Apathy
by Valerianna
Summary: When she married him, everybody told her that he couldn't care less about her. When he left her, everybody told him that she loved him to the marrow of her bones. Every great family's ascension has a long history of blood, hatred, and revenge. This is the aftermath.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Before everyone starts reading-(yeah right, when do readers ever read the author's notes) I want to make it clear, this is not a planned story like the one I am currently updating right now (To Hold Eternity), and the story I have planned will be so much better than this one. But I want to put this out there because the idea suddenly popped into my mind after re-reading my Ashes to Ashes collection. I felt it's quite sad to leave "Dichotomy" hanging like that, and besides, I had a great idea for that but I squeezed it all into a medieval story which totally doesn't do my idea or the time period justice at all. I felt so bad I begin to revisit my notes from highschool to find the inspiration. And I did, so here we are.

When reading this fic, please keep in mind this AU is set in a highly cynical and futuristic society. Of course it's not as ridiculous as flying cars and what not, but keep in mind the violent competitions within society today and times that by ... let's say three. It's not the current state of Canada and US, that I can assure.

I'm just going to say right now that this is going to be a dark fic. Dark in the sense of pain, suffering and heartaches, not in the sense of gore, horror or graphic contents. Just to play it safe I'm going to put it to M, but of course anyone can read this-the only warning I can gave is, don't expect to have a nice day after reading.

Readers, please be aware. The continuation of this story is highly unstable. I may have found an inspiration but I did not plan an ending. Of course constant pestering and reviewing helps to edge things along.

Here we go.

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Chapter 1

I.

'Tis better to have love and lost,  
than never have loved at all.

-Tennyson

II.

There's a type of men in this world that is made out of stones. You love him to death, to pieces, to the marrow of your bones, and he doesn't care at all. He leaves you without any reason, any indication, or any regret. You cry, you suffer and you beg, but he would never turn back. This is the cruelest tale of riches and rags, where one would only assume fate is playing a game with all our lives, and it stops only when the heart ceases to beat.

III.

Haruno Sakura sat in front of the loan application line nervously. She read through her application form repeatedly, hoping there wasn't anything wrong with it. There wasn't, of course, but she just had to be sure.

The people around her slumped in their seats, as if all sources of life had been drained from them. Sakura kept her head down, and tried to mind her own business. When the door to the small office opened and closed, Sakura glanced at the entrance and saw a pregnant woman looking around for a seat. Out of sympathy and obligation, she stood up to let the poor woman have a seat, but immediately when she stood up, a young man took her seat, and appeared to have no intention of giving it back.

Sakura sighed. She didn't say anything against this, though, because it wasn't worth the trouble to go through.

At last when her name was called, she rushed through small and dirty doorway located at the end of the hallway, and when her hands touched the knobs, she realized she was shaking.

"Haruno-san." An elderly woman with graying hair and a prim expression held her file in her hand as she reviewed it critically. "Please sit down."

"Yes ma'am." Sakura quickly sat down in the only chair available. She straightened out her back and sat at the edge of the chair, listening attentively for any coming questions.

"It says here you have a child of five years old, is that correct?" The woman asked as her eyes skimmed through the thin files.

"Yes," Sakura quickly answered, "He's turning six in October."

"Are you two currently living alone?"

"Yes."

"Do you know the possible location of the boy's father?"

Sakura bit her lip. At last, she said softly, "He died."

"I see, and you are currently working in the 'Lair'? Exactly what kind of business do they run?"

"It's a restaurant," Sakura replied. That wasn't the complete truth, but the older woman didn't ask about what happens during the night, so Sakura chose to leave it out.

"I see. How long have you been working there?"

"About a year or so."

"Alright."

She tapped on her computer for a while while Sakura wet her lips nervously and looked around the office. There was a painting of an orchard, and a small cactus plant. But in this town, it rained almost six months every year. She was surprised the cactus was still alive and kicking.

"And you applied a loan of... five hundred dollars?" the lady behind the dest questioned.

"Yes, ma'am."

"How do you intend to pay it back?"

"It gets busier around the holidays, and we have bonuses each year," Sakura explained calmly. "The reason I need the money right now is because of a medical emergency for my son."

The woman sighed, reviewed the file over, and tapped her fingernails on her computer for a while.

"Alright." She finally said, "I'm going to put the deadline to January 25th next year. Think you can manage that?"

"Yes, thank you so much! Yes!" Sakura quickly bowed to her over and over as she stood up from her seat. "Thank you very much."

The woman printed out several sheets of paper and signed her name on top. She then handed it to Sakura. "Put this through the back and they will give you the cash right away. I wish you health."

"Thank you very much." Sakura bowed one last time as she grabbed the files and exited the door. She tried her very hardest to not look too happy. Her eyes widened as she pushed through the doors of the back office. She handed in the form and a couple minutes later, they request a stamp and her signature. After all the processes, the cash was handed to her in an envelope. She carefully tucked the money within her pockets of her large coat as she exited, and the rain suddenly seemed less irritating than when she first walked in.

Sakura then continued her half-a-mile walk from the Financial Aids Office to the nearest bus stop; she walked fast because she did not bring an umbrella to shield her away from the rain, and she was slowly getting soaked. Even with that, she felt as if in her pockets there was a small stove, waiting to heat her up for a while, and the idea of that was so comforting she almost smiled the entire way.

IV.

By the time she got home, Hikari was already asleep on the queen mattress. There was no support for the mattress, for the mattress itself was originally abandoned somewhere by the garbage bin. Sakura hauled it back all by herself- a couple of miles away from the small, single-room apartment some time ago. She washed it completely from top to bottom for fear of bacteria or parasites, and after a couple of days, she had permitted Hikari to sleep on it. It was the only bed in the room, and it provided both mother and son with comfort.

Her home could only be classified as a "room." It was ridiculously small, to the point of being pitiful. There was hardly a kitchen, let alone a stove. She had bought some gas and burners, though, and had laid them to the side. Ramen and canned foods were their main source of nutrition, but that wouldn't suffice for much longer. Hikari was growing fast, and she needed to think of better meals to prepare for him. Even on his birthday, she had to pull extra shifts to get him a small cake that can last a couple of days before it was completely devoured by the boy. Thinking of Hikari's upcoming birthday, the near-constant frown appeared on her face again.

She kissed Hikari's cheeks and felt a little comforted by the tenderness of his skin... but then frowned at the patches of dead and dry peels of skin on his cheekbones. He must have lost his scarf again, but was afraid of telling her, so he played outside without a scarf. The cold air had been drying his face up, and she couldn't allow that.

Hikari snuggled closer to her as she felt how cold his hands and feet were. Sakura immediately tucked him in more snugly as she wandered to the other side of the room to heat up a pot of water to put in a small water bottle. It was likely to be the only source of heat they had for the night. She grabbed her pen and some scraps of paper as she lay back down on the mattress, and Hikari immediately snuggled up to her like a poor, shivering puppy. Sakura hugged him closer as she tried to write a list down on her paper.

First and foremost, there's the need for medicine. Of course there's the SSRIs, they take up a large chunk of the five hundred dollars. From her experience, she knew the exact amount per prescription down to the very last cent. Then there must be 10-20 dollars left aside for Hikari's birthday next week. The burner needs replacing, and there's another seventy dollars gone. Hikari needs new scarves and winter clothing; he grew so fast that it was practically impossible to catch up. Sakura calculated up to $180 dollars for winter clothing, and some smaller items, such as earmuffs and hats. Hikari needed more socks-they were always missing, somehow. Then there was the various house hold items that needed to be either replaced or bought. New laundry powder, some baby shampoo, more moisturizer, a new umbrella, the next week's groceries, the rent, the phone bill, utilities...

She adds and counts up, then predicted various places around town to get the cheapest items. Then with the remaining money-if there was any left, that is- she might need to think about the winter tuitions for Hikari coming up. And by the time January rolled around, she'd hate to think of the possible cost for both prescriptions and tuition combined. She may need to go down the financial office again.

But for now, they're set.

Luckily, Hikari was older now, and he was understanding their situation better than ever. He knew the direct phone line from home to her cellphone. Sakura only allowed him to play outside when one of the neighbours was watching. If he was alone, he had to stay beside the phone, just in case one of his seizures hit him again. The seizures were rarer at that point in time, and Sakura was happy for that. The problem still remained for Hikari to be a bit outgoing...

Sakura laid her pen and paper down as she smoothed over Hikari's hair. He was so tiny compared to her, but every fiber of his being resembles that man-the man that caused all of this. He was becoming more and more like an exact replica of his father, with streaks of black hair framing his face, and delicate features that shone with courage and stubbornness. At this young age, whenever Sakura saw him alone, her heart felt like it was being tugged into a thin line.

Despite his name, Hikari was born with autism.

When he was a baby, the seizures came frequently, and Sakura had no choice but to stay at home and take care of him. But if she was absent from her job, then there was no source of income. She and Hikari lived off of several charity organizations, and when she started working, their neccessity for charities stopped as Hikari got slowly better.

The most frightening sound in Sakura's life was perhaps the sound of her cell phone. She had been constantly scared of hearing it when she was at work, as whenever she picks up a call, nine out of ten times it has something to do with Hikari. Either he got into a fight or he was having a seizure, and she'd rush home to see Hikari biting a towel while spasming on the bathroom floor with a neighbour standing by, unable to help.

It happened several times, and it wasn't likely to happen again, but Sakura had been more careful than ever with Hikari.

The phone rang, and Sakura quickly reached over to pick it up before it disturbed her son. The voice of an older woman came into her ears.

"Sakura-chan? Sakura chan!"

"Oh, Oto-san. Hello."

"I wanted to ask you if you're free after your shift tomorrow. On Thursdays you work from nine to five, right?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Remember when you asked me to keep my ears open for anyone looking for a relationship?"

"Oh, right."

"Well. This man seems well enough. He can provide for both you and Hikari, and he doesn't mind you come with a son. He has no habits of drugs or alcohol. He looks nice enough, but... his back ground is a little muddy. Are you interested?"

Sakura glanced at Hikari, and she immediately responded with, "Yes, of course. When...?"

"Tomorrow at six, by the bar downstairs. I picked a location close to home, is that ok?"

"Of course," Sakura whispered. "Thank you."

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow to introduce the two of you."

"Right. Thank you very much."

When she put her phone down, she turned around to face Hikari, and saw a pair of bright eyes staring up at her. She cooed, "Hikari-kun, sorry to wake you. Go back to sleep, baby."

"Mommy..." Hikari hugged her arm like it was his lifeline. Sakura patted his head as she a suppressed a cough.

"Go to sleep, dear. When you wake up, there's a surprise for you."

Hikari's eyes sparkled a little, then he immediately shut them as he tried to sleep his hunger off. Even at this tender age, he knew that the question of, "Is there any food at home?" would only bring sadness to his mother.

Sakura begin to plot the surprise for tomorrow morning, and the menu for the next week. Suppose if she woke up a bit earlier, and went downstairs to the bar to pickup some cheap left overs..? Hikari might like the blueberry crumble. She'd need some change first to pay the bartender, so she might make a turn for the grocery store first, and use the change to buy some sweets...

And as always, she fell asleep in a swirl of worry and exhaustion.

V.

After cooking a simple dinner for Hikari, she quickly went to the washroom to take a shower and wash off the excess smell of smoke and alcohol that lingered in her hair. She used the shampoos sparingly before she hurriedly went through her medicine cabinet in an attempt to find some leftover makeup. She hadn't touched the stuff in forever, she almost forgot how to apply most of it. The eyeliner had dried out a long time ago, but there was a spare case of eyeshadow that might be useful. She dabbed a little on her eyelids, and found an abandoned lipstick near the corner of the cabinet. Despite the intensity of the color, she put a little on to bring our some colors on her lips. Pinching her cheeks until they blushed a little (instead of the pale and ghostly face she usually had), she kissed Hikari on the forehead as he worked dilligently on his homework.

"Write neat, alright?" she reminded him, and smiled the brightest smile she could for her son.

"Of course, mama." Hikari replied in a happier voice. "You look pretty."

"Thank you," Sakura chuckled as she examined the appliances and took a quick walk around the room, making sure everything was in order. "I'll be back in an hour, tops. Be careful, ok?"

"Ok!"

"Alright, bye!"

As she said goodbye, she locked the door behind her carefully and made her way downstairs.

The bar wasn't crowded at that time; it was still early for the night life. Oto-san was already there, sitting alone. Apparently, the man she was supposed to meet wasn't here yet. Sakura approached her and said hello while looking down at the menu. There's a very likely chance this guy would be paying for dinner, so she might order a large meal just to bring some back for Hikari.

At last, the man entered the door and spotted them. He was a bit stunned at the sight of Sakura at first, just as Sakura was at the sight of him, and he sat down while Oto-san started talking like a machine gun.

"Haruno-chan is great at everything. She can cook, and clean, and take care of children. Even though she has a son, he's very good most of the time. Sakura is quite pretty, don't you think? She's even prettier when she has time to take care of herself..."

Oto had talked for almost ten minutes, when she finally realized neither was speaking at all. Giggling to herself, she stood up and said, "I'll leave you two be, have fun!"

Sakura understood what Oto meant the moment she flicked her eyes towards the door and saw him. He looked as if he was going to pull back and walk right out, and Sakura would have preferred that, because now that they are alone, Sakura is literally shaking in fear.

"Haven't seen you in a while, Sakura-chan."

He spoke first, but his voice wasn't as loud as she remembered. Time, too, has roughed up this boy's edges.

"I...I..." Sakura stuttered, and she tried her best to stop herself from panicking.

"You have a son?" he asked, almost in rage.

"Ye..yes, Naruto-kun," Sakura finally forced out.

She could see that by now, Naruto was furious, but he contained himself enough not to show it. "Your... how old is he?"

Sakura closed her eyes and whispered, "By October, he'll be six."

"You..." Naruto didn't quite know what to say, but he focused his eyes on the girl in front of him. Her once chubby face has been thinned out into a V-shape. Her eyes are still bright, but they were larger, and her cheeks appeared more hollow. He lowered his gaze, and found the girl was shaking uncontrollably.

"Leave, now," Naruto finally said. "Leave at this moment, and we will pretend we never saw each other, and I won't tell... him."

Sakura immediately scrambled up. "Yes, thank you, thank you so much. I'm so sorry to put you in this position, thank you, thank you."

She seized her bag and coat, and stumbled across the bar to the door as qucikly as she could manage without drawing attention.

She ran the whole way home.

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TBC

A/N: After grammatical revisions, this is a second posting.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Several things to be made clear here. First, in order to retain a realistic society image, (and of course this fic is taken place in another world that is similar to ours) the place that most closely related is somewhere with in Asia. Probably China or India, where competition is so intense an university bachelors graduate can't even find a job as a sales person.  
The money currency will be set as "dollars", as I really do not have the energy or the will to create a fictional world with its own currency that matches its own greetings and culture. Suspension of disbelief here, guys.  
Another thing, which many fan girls may cry on: In this fic, Itachi is married, to an OC. They don't appear... much. But I take reference of them from my other story "To Hold Eternity". So don't be surprised at this chapter or in the future when I spring that information on you guys. That being said, I'm very, very, very scared of me drifting away from the main plot and writes more on Itachi and his family relationship, as they are equally interesting. But they're not what the readers are here to see, are they? So please remind me if I got lost and get me back on track with Sasuke and Sakura.. But with the contents of this chapter, I think that ship has sailed.

But this chapter is slightly more light hearted and fun. I thought even I would kill myself if I write too much angst. So I will add comedic breaks in between!

And the most important-I am going to put it out there right now that I don't know how this story end or how it's even going to continue. Because I wrote it and put it up online in the same day, which is something I don't tend to do... I usually wait until I have a good hundred thousand word drafts until I start updating. So this story is extremely.. risky, I would say, at the chance of the author loosing interest in it... If there is a demand for it I need some time to plan out the structure and plots etc, (suggestions comments questions would be helpful) but that also means late updates. But I doubt it would go over my limit of at least updating once a week. Anything longer than that I would loose interest. Please bother me to continue this!

And what would be very helpful is if I have a good and consistent beta.

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Chapter 2

I.

All that matters in life are knowledge and power.

II.

Uchiha Sasuke tapped on the monitors of his laptop in annoyance. The screen is acting up again, and Sasuke had to remind himself to remind his secretary to remind the equipments department to send up a new touch screen laptop.

He was a man in his late twenties, currently sitting on an vast economic empire that he rules with an iron claw. He is extremely handsome, but not effeminate. His features are aristocratic like, with large and deep eyes, fine eyebrows straight nose and full lips. One would be very wrong to make the assumption that he was to be taken lightly just because of his aesthetic pleasing face. He gave off an air of coldness and silence, as strangers rarely approach him purely because of his aura. It may seemed like Sasuke is surrounded by perpetual anger or annoyance, as his eyebrows slightly knots together to form a frown. On his happier days he appeared emotionless, and a smile was so rare coming from him it almost wasn't documented in public.

His long fingers pressed onto the cold glass screen as a Skype window popped up, with the name "Itachi Uchiha" written on top. Sasuke slid his finger over to "decline", but apparently the laptop decides to take that order as an order of "accept call with video", and immediately a large window with the face of a young girl bounced onto his screen.

"Sasuke-ojisan!" The bright little eyes stared him down with curiosity, "Are you coming to our Sunday dinner today?"

Sasuke rubbed his forehead in frustration. He isn't particularly fond of children, but the feeling wasn't mutual-at least, it wasn't in the eyes of this particular little girl. It isn't that he dislikes his little niece, but it's the fact that he actually wasn't very fond of her father, and in turn, her mother. But now days they're trying very hard to incorporate him into their little family, and despite Sasuke's excuse of "It could end up very messy for you, if we interacted", his brother smile and waved it off like the underworld is pre-school for him. Which for Itachi, it probably was. Sasuke's resentment for them has lightened considerably with the birth of their daughter, and as years went by, the little girl's happy childhood still stings Sasuke on the account of this is what he has missed when Itachi disappeared from his life when he was young.

But life goes on, and Sasuke is very well off now, so just for this once, he cease to hold grudges against his brother's family. Besides, who can resist a cute little five year old girl hugging you all the time?

The girl, Erika, waved her chubby little hand in front of the monitor, but seeing she couldn't get her uncle's attention, she screamed at the door, "Dadddddy!"

Which caused Sasuke to quickly pay his attention on Erika, "No, don't call your dad, no-"

"Hello, little brother."

Aw shit.

Sasuke then tried to minimize the screen so he doesn't have to stare into his brother's face, which the laptop thankfully allowed him to do.

"Hi, Itachi." Sasuke replied with a curt greeting while his eyes are going over the sales charts for the shipments arrived last month.

"Sasuke," Itachi's smooth voice flowed out like it was silk. "We really wish you could come."

Sasuke straightened up and was careful to keep emotions beneath the surface, "I will try to make it-"

"Ah, but little brother, Erika has been begging for your presence for months."

"What are you talking about? I saw her three weeks ago."

"Tsk, so you admit it's been three weeks since you've visited us?" Itachi followed Sasuke like a panther preying on a rabbit.

Out of pure annoyance, Sasuke made the promise. "Fine, I'll be there. But you do know that every time I visit I have to fly for two hours."

"I am aware, yes. Oh, and don't forget to buy Erika a present."

As he was about to agree, suddenly he heard snickering and giggling from his monitor, suspicious, he listened in further and heard Itachi's whispering voice to his little daughter, "see I told you he wasn't watching us. Now do a embarrassed ghost face."

Sasuke immediately made the monitor pop up, and came face to face with Erika's impression of a wiggly ghost who's quite bashful. He wasn't sure Erika hit it on the spot, as all she does is lowering her head and wiggling her arms around. In fact it looks more like a deranged bird.

Needless to say, nothing this family ever does will surprise him anymore.

This idea must have been thought up by Chiro, her mother. Chiro is known for her weird thinking and strange ideas. But if those quality are taking in from Itachi's words, it would be, unique and has character. Of course he was probably the only person in the world who thinks so.

Speaks of the devil, a girl in her late twenties blinked into the monitor as she was holding a plateful of what one could only determined as rainbow colored... stuff. Sasuke wasn't clear on what exactly they are, but he swears they might still be alive, as some moved slightly.

"Dearest." Itachi kissed his wife on the forehead as he moved aside to make room for her in front of their computer. Chiro held up the plate and said in her sweetest voice. "Sasuke-kun, if you miss this dinner, you will be missing out on this. See how delicious this is?"

"What is it?" Sasuke asked while squinting.

"It's jelly. Rainbow jelly." Erika popped up within the realms of the monitor, "and Daddy said we should feed it to Ojiisan because he doesn't know it looks like unicorn p-"

Itachi hushed his daughter before she finished.

"And if you don't come, I'm mailing this to you." Chiro said with a large smile on her face. In fact the entire family is smiling at him as Sasuke sighed and said, "Fine, I'll go. Happy?"

"Very, buy Erika a present and bring a pie." Itachi said very quickly, and shut off Skype before Sasuke could change his mind.

Sasuke leaned against his leather chair, and sighed once more. He doesn't sigh often, for it's a sign of weakness in front of his men. But he find that the more he interacts with his brother's family, the more sighs escape from his mouth. They meant well, and they should feel guilty, but they have had their hardships and Sasuke couldn't bare to blame his misery on them. Besides, Itachi compensated for his actions by handing over this vast empire, for which Sasuke was grateful at first, but now he wasn't sure.

Uchiha Itachi is a legend in the underground world. The Uchiha family once fell from grace a long time ago, and the only two Uchihas were Itachi and Sasuke. Calculating and manipulative, Itachi knew the fastest way to power isn't through the light-for it's much more effective through methods that are not as ethical as one might deem them to be. In Sasuke's words, Itachi is a completely twisted and deranged human being. He was surprised that Itachi is still alive and kicking today, and living a life full of happiness that he doesn't really deserves. But Itachi has been through so much to pave a golden road for his brother-and he did it. But before that, before Itachi returned to his life, was when Sasuke has been hurt the most, and he took his sweet time with his revenge.

And it was satisfying.

III.

His personal assistant Juugo was carrying his briefcase into the car when Sasuke glanced back at his work building. It has been several days and the situation with the shipment still hasn't been sorted out. Usually these kind of things can be taken care of by Naruto easily, but Naruto has taken a leave of absence for a few weeks, and as much as it annoys Sasuke, it's long over due, so he allowed it.

"Where is Naruto, anyways? These fools seems to be unable to function without him." Sasuke asked Juugo, who replied with a curt nod, "Naruto-san has been on vacation in Leon."

"Leon? What's he doing back there?" Sasuke frowned, "It rains half the time."

"Several of our guys spotted him building an romantic relationship. It seems that he is ready to settle down." Juugo's voice was automatic.

"Settle down?" Sasuke chuckled darkly, "I see. I may pay him a visit while I'm over there for this ridiculous dinner. Get everything ready."

"Of course, sir."

"Did you get the present and the pie?"

"Already on their way over there, sir."

Sasuke sighed and got into the car, "Drive. The sooner we get this weekend over with the better."

"Yes, sir."

Other than the obvious reason why he doesn't visit his brother, there's also a more particular reason. He knew that in Leon, she is there.

The girl who ruined his life, the girl who stripped away his freedom, the girl who squashed him beneath her heels and grinds on his pride until he suffocates-

Sasuke quickly diverted his attention by opening up his laptop. Work is the most important right now. Everything else can wait.

Silently, he held a dark humour in his mind, laughing to himself and thinking, she better pray that she doesn't run into me. For this time, I might kill her.

IV.

Sasuke was greeted by a pink ball of furry enthusiasm the moment he stepped off of the plane-literally.

Erika was there to greet him right at the tunnel entrance. Her chubby hands went up to his neck and she whispered quiet subtly, "Did you bring me a present?"

Sasuke chuckled as he caught her, "Of course I did, but it's probably sitting in your house right now."

"Why did you carry it along with you?" She asked, her hands twisting into knots.

"Because he's a cold hearted and sadistic little boy." Itachi said as he walked up to them with a soft smile forever lingers on his face. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at him, but several passengers passing them kept their eyes on the two brothers the entire time. One girl even tripped while she was busy staring at them. Yes, in truth, if Sasuke and Itachi were put together, often they would cause screams from girls everywhere. Some girls are excited because they imagine they're gay, some girls are excited because they never thought such beauty existed in this world, and some girls just puts everything down and unconsciously follow them. Sasuke's features are just downright aristocratically handsome, with cheekbones to die for, but Itachi's features are on a completely on a different level.

That is not to say one brother is better than the other, but in Chiro's words to describe Itachi, it would be, "I have never seen any men, or women, who is prettier than this son of a bitch."

If one had to describe Itachi, it would definitely be somewhere along the lines of stunningly beautiful. He emits a lazy, almost animalistic predatory air that makes everyone who looks into his eyes shudder in excitement and fear. His features aren't aristocratic like his brother at all, but rather...seductive. He is a man born to seduce, to get his way, while also indulge himself in pure bliss. The most powerful feature are his eyes, as they are not particularly large like Sasuke's, they are long and fox like, for when he narrows them even slightly, those glassy orbs looked like they're trapping onto your soul. In addition to that, Itachi has a forever smile hung on his lips, with his eyes half lidded and the tapping of his long fingers, it's almost impossible to tell his mood. This makes him particularly dangerous, although there's no fear of that when he has washed his hands of that world.

Everybody who in the crime circle knew this. The difference between the brothers are, if the older one stops smiling, then shit is about to go down. If the younger one starts smiling, then you know you're pretty much screwed.

"Itachi." Sasuke curtly nodded at his brother, and Itachi returns the same gesture, also pulling Erika back into his arms. Sasuke frowned as they walked towards the checkout entrance, "Do you have to let her right to the plane tunnel?"

"It's what she desires." Itachi simply said.

Sasuke shuts up, for he knew there are only three person in the world that his brother would spoil without limits, and Sasuke himself is one of them.

"How's my sister-in-law?" He asked casually, hoping to detect a hint within Itachi's voice. For Sasuke knew the last time he visited, Chiro put cactuses as centerpieces, and he unfortunately pricked himself at dinner-something everyone in that diabolical family claimed it's no one's fault but his own.

Itachi, however, betrayed no emotions at all as they passed a fellow suvenier shop, "She's fine. Ah, look Erika, rubber mouses. Do you want to scare Onee-chan with this?"

Erika nodded eagerly while tapping on her father's shoulders, which is a sign of how badly she wanted something. It's the same with Sasuke too, if he felt there's like a humming bird rate tap on his shoulders, he knew he should pay attention to his little niece.

"Do you think she'll get scared?" Erika asked hopefully.

"Of course she will. We will plant it in the oven." Itachi said affectionately.

"Maybe this time she'll be scared enough to let me dump away the salad."

"Haha, I hope so too..."

Sasuke stared at the conversation between the two and suddenly felt that it can't be him. Even when he isn't used to the idea of a "family", there is just simply no way other families behaved as strange as this. Well in order to prove that he had to find another family as evil as this, and they live off of the enjoyment of torturing Sasuke.

The limo was already waiting for them when they exited the airport. Even when Itachi got out of the family business, he still have considerable connections within it. His cashflow never stops, and even Sasuke was not curious enough to investigate exactly where he gets his money from. Mainly because Sasuke feared he might stumble upon something like, "Sir, we've received credible information, and it is confirmed-Uchiha Itachi-san has been known to enslaves Humpty-Dumpties to make omelettes for the king's horses". It may sounds ridiculous, but it's well within Itachi's realm of imagination and doing. For heaven's sake, Sasuke once found a room planted with baby Venus flytraps. In Itachi's defence, "Foolish little brother, do you not read the signs before entering a door? It's so obviously clear that the room is filled with Venus flytraps."

To which Sasuke narrowed his eyes and said with equal intimidation, "Big brother, as much as I appreciate Erika's natural artistic talent, a circle with two jagged lines across drawn on a piece of paper taped to the door is not a sign of warning against Venus flytraps. What are you planning to do with them when the fully mature anyways?"

"Plant them on the fences edge, there has been a few intruders bothering me lately." Itachi's smile was gentle. "Or, I can chop them up and they would make a delicious side dish, don't you think?" And then a slight frown dawned upon Itachi's face as he chuckled, "Who am I kidding. Venus flytraps can't fend of intruders." And then cue Erika's childish voice, "Silly daddy, you confused machine guns with plants again."

It is then when Sasuke watched very carefully what he picks up on their dinner table. He learnt it the hard way.

Erika was playing with her rubber mouse in the limo while Itachi poured his brother some wine, "So." He sat back and tilted his head slightly to look at Sasuke with a lazy careless attitude.

Sasuke sat straight and narrowed his eyes dangerously to Itachi, "So."

Itachi swirled his glass for a while, and the tension in this limo was so thick until he opened his mouth, "What kind of pie did you bring?"

Sasuke has long learnt, to go against Itachi is to always retort. It's very ineffective if he just went on a rage rampage and ask what the hell is wrong with him, because then Itachi would present a series of wildly strange but quite logical argument behind his actions which leaves Sasuke wished he never asked. So in a reply to Itachi, he sipped his wine and said, "cheesecake and strawberry key-lime."

"Mhmm.. Isn't that your favorite?" Itachi asked.

In truth Sasuke has no preference. Cheesecake is Chiro's favorite, and Erika loves strawberries. Itachi hates lime, so it quickly became Sasuke's first preference in flavors of anything. He responded, "I have a feeling that pie will be the only food I could fill up on."

"Are you saying we don't feed you, Sasuke-kun?"

"No, I'm simply saying the stuff on your dinner table looks pretty, but left something to be desired."

"Foolish little brother, has it not occurred to you that your dear sister-in-law might add something special to your pie just to spice it up?"

Sasuke controlled himself not to turn green.

Itachi quickly switched the conversation, for he knew the limits when dealing with his brother. Sasuke often can't do anything about it because Itachi knew exactly when to draw his hand so his little brother won't storm out of the house.

"By the way, little brother. I was teaching Erika some new words the other day, and one of them popped up. Tell him, Erika."

Erika stopped playing and said, "Oh, yes. Stoic. S-T-O-I-C. Stoic. My Sasuke-ojiisan is always stoic, because Onee-chan secretly think he injected botox into his face."

"..."

Itachi quickly waved, "Not that one, dear, the other one."

Erika thought really hard and said, "Oh right, Wife. W-I-F-E. My Sasuke-ojiisan doesn't have one. A wife, I mean. He still doesn't have a wife."

Sasuke glared at the two of them. Erika shrieked and cuddled into her father's arms, "Daddy, he's scaring me."

Itachi then comforts, "Poor little Erika, born into this world with a scary uncle who doesn't visit us in three weeks at a time. Oh my, look at him, do you think his eyebrows could knot any further?"

Sasuke took a calming breath and said coldly, "I have a long-term girlfriend."

"I don't like her." Erika blurted out.

"That's not fair, Erika. Have you ever even met her." Sasuke asked, his voice softening a little.

Erika pouted so that her little nose slightly twists up, "Of course I have. On TV. She's not as pretty as Daddy."

"Now that's not fair, no one is as pretty as your dad." Sasuke said emotionlessly, while inside, he's chuckling. He knew Itachi hate being compared to anything beautiful.

"Seriously speaking." Itachi cleared his throat. "Are you going to marry her?"

"If I do? You're not going to block her off from this wonderful Sunday dinner are you?"

"I might." Itachi sipped his wine.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "You should join a SOW club."

"Mhmm?" Itachi made a single syllable sound from his nose.

"Scared Of the Wives club. Its a private elite club that only members such as you are allowed to join." Sasuke tapped on his crystal glass, "It seemed that you have the most intense quality that this club requires."

Itachi looks slightly amused as he sat his glass down, while Erika giggled and said, "silly Ojisan, of course Daddy can join it, he has a wife. You don't."

And Sasuke immediately glared, "What did you feed this kid?!"

"Simple truth, and nothing but." Itachi chuckled as the limo pulled up to the gigantic castle like mansion. This is a house that Itachi personally drew the blueprints for. It has a total of seventy eight rooms, fifteen bathrooms, two large libraries, three garages, a large front yard and a large soccer field at the back. There's a helipad on the roof for helicopters or launching of the hot air balloons, and a row of private water jets on the dock by the lake. It is maintained by a total of fifteen servants, and that's already stretching it. Many are fired because of malice intentions towards Itachi. As if this isn't ridiculous enough, more than once, Sasuke walked in to a room filled with various casino settings and saw Chiro playing poker or mah-jeong with the servants.

Erika jumped off from the limo and ran into the house screaming, "Mommy, mommy, Sasuke-ojisan is here! Where's Frank's poop?"

Frank is Erika's unicorn. Itachi bought several ponies for Erika, and when Erika feels like it, he orders the servants to glue a custom made silver horn on the head of the ponies.

Sasuke sighed. He found it's a habit that he cannot escape from whenever he interacts for more than five minutes with any member of this family.

Chiro emerged at the doors, wearing an apron that is squeaky clean. She kissed Erika on her forehead as she ran in, and then she turned to Sasuke and said happily, "I'm so glad you're here."

"I wish I could say the same." Sasuke responded.

"He can." Itachi added and rushed them all in, "Come on, before the food gets cold."

"You're going to love it, we're having escargots and soft shelled crabs." Chiro chirped.

Sasuke's face turned slightly green.

Itachi chuckled in amusement as he hugged Chiro's shoulders with one arm and whispered affectionately in her ear. She listens and giggles, while Sasuke guessed their conversation usually is something along the lines of, "Look at him, dearest, he's turning green. What else shall we serve him that makes him puke non-stop for the next three weeks at least?"

But suddenly, something tugged along the back of his mind, a figure, a young figure in white, screaming his name-

He frowned, brushing past them while spewed out coldly, "If you guys are done with this public display of affection, I'm going inside."

"Look at him, he's jealous."

"He's just sad because no one loves him except for us in this world..."

Sasuke bit his lips and kept on walking.

"Oh right, before I forget." Chiro ran up to Sasuke and said innocently, "Do you think it'd be alright if I invite Naruto? He's in town for a couple of weeks."

"I know. He works as my right handed man." Sasuke said, his eyes shifted, "He's not here right now, is-"

"Baka!" Naruto ran into the room with Erika on his shoulders while holding a toy water gun-one that would only assume it's Sasuke's gift for her for pieces of wrapping paper are still glued on, "What took you so long?"

Sasuke stood in the middle of this lavish room filled with ancient vases, statues and priceless artifacts, and he is facing a man with ridiculously blond hair and a girl on his shoulders tugging on his hair yelling, "faster, faster! Let's run him over!" He then turned to his brother and sister-in-law, and both are snickering at the corners, watching Sasuke with amusement and teasing in their eyes.

"Remember this the next time you think about settling down, Sasuke." He said to himself. "Remember this."

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TBC

A/N: I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of reviews and feedbacks I got from the last chapter. Everyone was so nice :) And I even saw some of my old readers, and that was just icing on the cake.

I fear with this chapter I may lost some of my readers. This isn't as... angst-y as one would have hoped. But despite all my writings on traumas and sadness, I sincerely believe in the good of humanity, and I hope at least some of my writings reflect that. Besides, this story could do with some humour. My only fear is the incorporation of Chiro-a character I wrote in another story that is paired up with Itachi. Seriously guys, for the plot to work Itachi has to be married. And currently I found no eligible single ladies that's in a particular compatibility of Itachi himself. So I inserted in my OC. I hope it doesn't ruin my readership that much, for I really love Itachi when he's a family guy. If anyone objects, I will certainly cut down the amount of scenes with them.

And because of so many wonderful reviewers-I have decided to type up another chapter and post it right away, simply to prove my determination to continue this story. But please don't expect another updates for a couple of days. It's killing me.

Thank you all very much.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: The point of the story is not to solve the great mystery of whatever Sakura and Sasuke did in the past, so don't worry, fellow readers. It will be revealed completely in another couple of chapters.

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Chapter 3

I.

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.  
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.

II.

The living cost in this city it's so outrageous that Sakura wanted to cry. Going through the entire mall, she couldn't find a scarf for Hikari that is within her twenty dollars budget and also is comfortable and keeps him warm. She wants something close to wool or cotton, but the cheapest she could find would be polyester, and they can't protect his little neck and cheeks.

Every end has been met, all her bills have been paid and the prescription is sitting at home. Hikari is slowly making friends with the neighbours. He's probably playing with the neighbours right now. She lived next to an old couple that loves having Hikari over, sometimes they play chess, sometimes they feed him little muffins. Hikari loved going over because there's always food and games to play with. And it keeps him from the cold and the rain.

Sakura went through the entire mall and picked out a short cotton muff that can barely cover his ears and his neck. She sighed and plan to buy some yarn and knit something for him. She turned around from the dollar store, remembering last time she bought yarn over there they were coarse and rough. This time she's going to wal-mart and find some yarn that is moderately soft for Hikari. Maybe she can visit her neighbour and learn how to knit in intricate patterns, instead of rows and rows of the exact same stitches.

She passed through MacDonald's as fast as she could without looking directly into it. The temptation of buying a burger is so great it's almost consuming her. But there's the constant debate of money. If she buys a burger for herself, perhaps save half of it for Hikari, then Hikari will most likely wait for the bus in the cold for the winter about to come. Thinking of this, she quickly went directly to the yarn isle and picked out a couple balls of soft-ish ones, and ran for the checkout.

She sighed as she exited Walmart and back into the mall. Her cellphone says she still have a little bit of time before the bus arrives, so she sat on a nearby bench and caressed the yarn in satisfaction. These will keep him warm, and by the time her bonus came around, perhaps she can even buy Hikari a new winter jacket-one of those khaki ones lined with fur. She saw them in the catalogues a while ago and wished she could buy him one, the one he's wearing right now is an old jacket that Sakura herself once wore. She tore off the buckles to make it less feminine for Hikari. Even then, he still had to wear a belt around his waist in order for it not to fall off. Tomorrow she starts working again after a weekend, she must take care not to be late-

She didn't always live like this. A few years ago-before Hikari was born, she was rich.

The Haruno family was so rich, in fact, they dominated the entire city of Leon. She does not know what kind of business her father dealt with back then, but she does now. But before, her father had the entire world in his hands and he handed it to her without question. Everything was at her feet when she demanded it, and she certainly did not worry about clothing or basic needs. Her bathroom back then was bigger than her apartment now. She ate lobsters and truffles, her accessories were adorned with rhino horns or diamonds, stringed on platinum or rose gold chains. She had VIP accounts in almost all the high class stores around the city, and they had no limits. Every store is like her closet to her, and her life was wonderful.

Sakura was snapped back into reality by someone calling her name. She looked up, and saw a particular blond haired man with a girl of dark brown hair staring at her with mixed emotions in his eyes, "Sakura-chan?"

Sakura quickly clenched tight into her bag, "Naruto-kun, what are you still doing here?"

"I'm on vacation, I didn't tell you last time." Naruto said, his eyes are observant for once as he took note of her shabby clothing and pale face. He turned to the girl and said, "Shizune-neesan, can we come here another day?"

Shizune frowned slightly, "Is she who I think she is?"

"Please." Naruto glared at her.

Shizune tsked a few times, then took off.

Sakura and Naruto are left staring awkwardly at each other.

"You're taking a vacation in this city?" She asked almost mockingly.

Naruto immediately lowered his head, "Yes, I... I was a little ... um... nostalgic."

Sakura quickly cursed herself for making him uncomfortable. She had enough problems already, and there really is no reason for Naruto to feel the way he feels. She's here in this state not because of him, and she has no one to blame but herself. Thinking of this, she quickly shook her head a little and smiled up at him, "That's great, Naruto-kun. I wish you good luck."

Naruto finally has the heart to stop her, "Wait-"

Sakura kept on walking forward firmly without stopping. Naruto had to run to catch up to her and grab onto her arm, "Sakura-chan, please."

She closed her eyes and let out a long breath, "What do you want, Naruto?"

"I... I was wondering, if it's ok..." Naruto is as nervous as always around her, "If it's ok, do you mind if I treat you to dinner?"

"I have to wake up early tomorrow. It's late, I need to go back and take care of Hikari." Sakura said, her eyes averting Naruto's searching gaze, "Please-"

Naruto let go of Sakura's arm as he stared at her in shock; he felt as if he was electrocuted by lightning, "Hikari? His name is Hikari?"

Sakura's mind was suddenly enveloped into an endless swirl of terror, "I... oh my god, Naruto, please don't tell him, please, you can't tell him, he-"

Naruto watched as the girl in front of her fell apart in panic, he quickly assured her, "No, it's fine. I won't tell him. I..."

"Naruto, you mustn't let him know Hikari exists, he will take him away from me." Sakura stuttered out, "Please, you must-"

He quickly assured, "I won't, Sakura-chan, please calm down! You look hungry, are you hungry? Let's get you some food..."

He led Sakura to the nearest fast food chain and ordered a meal of burgers, fries, chicken nuggets and a soda. They sat down as Naruto watched her in pain. She nibbled on a bit of her burger, the bread and the tomatoes, then carefully wrapped the rest together along with the fries and the nuggets. She looked up and saw Naruto's look, then looked down in embarassment, "Hikari-he must still be hungry."

"Yes, of course." Naruto quickly said, "Please, let's go back."

"Let's?" Sakura asked in surprise, "I wasn't aware you're coming."

Naruto looked at her blatantly, "Of course I'm coming."

Sakura lowered her head in shame, then said, "It's not a really good time..."

"I'm coming." Naruto said determinedly.

Her eyes softened at him and she was reminded that many years ago, he's the type of guy who would help anyone and everyone regardless of their intentions. She was not good to him back then, but he seemed to forget about all that and determined to help her. As if Kami has sent him down to her, Sakura silently accepted his offer as she got onto his silver Mercedes when he opened the door for her.

Naruto's car is flashy enough to light up the entire neighbourhood. This place is not known for it's cleanliness and order. It's the only place within her price range that she could afford. A few kids were playing on the streets and stopped to stare at his car alone. Sakura clutched tightly to her plastic bags out of the sense of security.

"Turn here." Sakura pointed.

Naruto stopped the car, because his vehicle cannot fit into the narrow streets and with ample room to make a u-turn to back out. He frowned, "Is it close? I'll just part the car here."

"Sure." Sakura said quietly.

The sky became clouded as Sakura watched Naruto press a button on his car keys and an automatic security system begin to envelope the car. She turned around to head inside. Years ago, the man who followed her around like a love sick puppy is now flashy to the point of blinding her. He's dressed in leather and silver buckles, where she's in a pair of jeans that must be at least four years old, and a shirt that has been through so many washes it's in an ugly shade between green and white. She coughed a little, then looked up at the sky. She could feel drizzles about to come down any minute.

"It's just up here. You really have no need to come in. I'm safe enough now, thank you." Sakura said, her eyes darted towards Naruto and his leather cuff.

"Please, Sakura-chan." Naruto said, his tone pleading.

She sighed and walked up the flights of stairs. This building has no janitor, and so graffiti and indentations found their mark here. She was careful not to touch the railing, for she has walked into the dark building more than once to find rats wandering around and gnawing on various garbage.

Naruto's heart tugged as he followed her up stairs after stairs, until they reached the fifth floor, he blinked as Sakura pulled out an actual metal key to open the lock on her door. Metal keys are so rare nowadays that Naruto haven't seen them in over a decade. But what astonished him was the site within.

It's not an apartment at all, because all there was was a single room, with the bed placed on one side, and a small coffee table and a clothing rack placed on another. There was a burner in a corner, with a tiny fridge. There was a little boy, sitting on the floor, crossing his legs together and folding origami out of newspapers and catalogues and placing them in rows on the bed. It's not fit to call it a bed, because it's just a single layer of mattress. As the dark haired boy saw Sakura go in, his eyes lit up as he dropped whatever he was doing and jumped across the bed to hug her.

"Mommy!"

"Hikari, baby." Sakura caressed the little boy's hair and kissed him on the cheeks, "What are you doing?"

"Folding."

"Is that right? Mommy has some delicious burgers and fries..."

Sakura laid the food carefully on her small coffee table row by row, and said to Hikari, "Go wash your hands."

Hikari quickly run to the washroom as Sakura sat down beside the coffee table, and Naruto standing awkwardly at the doors.

"Oh, Naruto-kun, please come in." Sakura quickly said.

Naruto was speechless. He only realized it when Sakura called out his name again, and he took off his boots and stepped into the tiny living space. By this time Hikari already finished washing his hand, and he knelt down by the table, remaining as good of a posture as a six year old boy could maintain. Naruto looked around the room and sat down near the coffee table too, for it is the only empty space available.

"This is Uzumaki Naruto." Sakura said, introducing the too.

"Uzumaki-san." Hikari said obediently.

Naruto had a strong flashback of when he was the same age, and Sasuke scorned at him instead of saying hi so politely. Hence he could only say, "I... He looks so much like him." And then he sighed.

Hikari then looked at Sakura expectantly but didn't say anything. Sakura smiled at him and then peeled off the wrapper on the burger and said, "Here you go."

Hikari blinked his eyes and grabbed onto the burger itself. He took a huge bite and chewed it at least twenty times and swallowed before turning back to Sakura, "Mommy, did you eat any?"

"Of course I did." Sakura smiled softly down at her son.

Naruto slid back from the coffee table, careful of not knocking anything over, and stood up. "I... Sakura-chan."

Sakura looked at him and suddenly flushed, "No, Naruto, it's not usually as bad as this, I..."

"Let's go to the grocery store." Naruto said, "Please. Let's go right now. Hikari can eat on the way over."

Sakura shook her head, "Naruto, despite what you think, we're alright. We're not desperate. Sure I have enough problems to worry about, and I agree that I am willing to take any charity you decide to toss my way, for the sake of my son-but I can't live without him, I can't continue knowing you are so attached to... to him..."

"No, Sakura, that's not what I meant-"

"Naruto-kun, both Hikari and I have to wake up early tomorrow." Sakura said sternly, "Please... leave. He might have his men watching your every move..."

Naruto turned away from them, he closed his eyes in pain.

"Please, Naruto." Sakura dropped the suffix as she stood up, "Let us live in peace."

Sakura was so much thinner than six years ago, and her eyes brighter. Her face has more angles as she roughened up. Her hands are not soft and white as they were used to be. And her eyes are staring at him with a fierce determination that just made him waver.

Naruto stumbled out of the door purely because of the effect of Sakura's pleading and fierce look. He turned around and quickly stepped down the ten flights of stairs as he run to his car as if there has been a demon chasing him. As he started his engine and drove onto the main streets, he realized both of his hands were shaking uncontrollably all this time.

III.

The photo of Naruto and Sakura were sent directly into Sasuke's hands.

He glared at the file in front of him in hatred, for he had no idea the moment Naruto pops back into that city he will encounter her again. This came as betrayal more than anything as he deduced perhaps Naruto was there to find her to begin with.

The photo was not particularly clear, but he could see Naruto's expression as frowning, and Sakura's over all figure.

She's thinner. She must've lost close to twenty pounds. Not that she was fat to begin with, but all her life she has been subjected to caviars and shark fins, it's hard not to fatten up. She was a bit chubby before, but now it seemed even her baby fat on her cheeks has been shredded off. Her hair grew longer, almost close to her hips. Her eyes are bigger and brighter, and her hands are bonier as she was grasping onto something. One look could tell she's wearing clothing that looked as if they came from the donation shelter. Sasuke wanted to laugh at her, and he was certain if he have the chance, he would point at her and mock her as cruelly as possible.

But this entire day, his eyes only focused on the photo in front of him. It was sent here to his office this morning, and the entire morning he could not keep his eyes off of it as he kept darting his eye towards the figure sitting on the mall bench. She's looking up at Naruto as if he was her salvation, and as Sasuke guessed, she probably think now that Naruto has found her, he is going to save her. Sasuke laughed at his imagination of Sakura, because he is going to make damn sure that they don't encounter each other again. But for the past two decades of friendship and partnership, Sasuke decided to allow Naruto to finish his vacation before he imposes his power over them.

And as the day went on, he could feel himself reaching out to the photo. It has been caressed over and over by his fingers. Somtimes rough, sometimes tender. He held her name within the tip of his tongue but never blurt it aloud. This is the woman whose life has been dedicated to tragedy. This is the woman who was once so pathetic in front of him that he laughed in her face, this was the woman who cried and begged at him.

Hateful, hateful.

Sasuke begin to map out every possible way he can make her even more miserable. Perhaps he will pay her a visit himself as he make sure she doesn't encounter Naruto again. Perhaps he will send a couple of his men to trash her place, or perhaps he can...

Damn it.

He lifted his receiver, and the line went directly to Juugo.

"Sir?"

"Book me a ticket to Leon, now." Sasuke blurted.

"Sir? You just got back yesterday."

"Do it." His spat out, his voice filled with annoyance.

Juugo immediately replied, "Yes sir. Do you need me to accompany you?"

"No need." Sasuke, "Make sure to give me the address to my suite." The last thing he wanted to do was to sleep in Itachi's house.

"Of course. Would that be all?"

"For now." Sasuke slammed down the receiver as he planned on how to spring this on Naruto. Either credulously accuse him of being a traitor or simply demand why he would help her. But then again, since that woman is so pathetic now, it must be in his nature to help her in anyway he could. He does have the habit of helping poor people everywhere. Every money wasting solution that usually results in donation to charity or be more green usually come from Naruto. Sasuke let him have his way once in a while because he personally thinks it's a bit of a hoot to indulge in Naruto's grand scheme of saving the planet or his little charity cases. But this is one charity case that Sasuke must cut from the roots.

His phone rang, and pressing a button, Juugo's steady voice rang through, "The ticket has been booked, the flight it in two hours. Sir, your cousin is waiting in your conference room right now."

"Cousin? Who is it?" Sasuke asked impatiently, "Re schedual it."

"It's Neji-san, sir, and he say it's urgent."

Sasuke rubbed his forehead in frustration, "Tell him I'll wait for him at the entrance, and I will only hear him out if he makes it between the time I stepped out of this office and the time I get into a cab."

"Yes sir."

He stood up and grabbed onto his jacket and stride towards the elevator in a rush. When he arrived at the entrance, Neji was already leaning against one of the spinning glass doors, "Where are you going?" He frowned, although it's impossible to know if he's feeling sad or good, as his iris is a light color and films over his pupil that gives the illusion of him having nothing in his eyes except for pure whiteness. This is a special Hyuuga trait that has been born through generations, and needless to say, it intimidated a lot of people.

"To Leon, right now." Sasuke said without pausing.

"Great, I'll come along. I'll call Juugo to book me a ticket too." Neji followed him.

Sasuke glared as him as he run off the steps and extending an arm out to stop a taxi, "What are you going to do there?"

"If you listen, you might deduce it yourself." Neji narrowed his eye at him.

Sasuke sighed in annoyance, "Sure, sure. I'll listen to your sob story. Let me guess. It has something to do with Lady Hinata... again."

"She's our future heir, and potentially your biggest future partner in business."

"Of course. She and I get along fine." Sasuke's mind jumped to the young and shy girl who stuttered and blushed most of the time he spoke to her. He suspected working with her, or, playing her would be more adequately put, is going to be a breeze. But of course there has to be this bastard here to ensure everything he does is difficult. Neji has been overly protective of Hinata, and Sasuke isn't particular too keen on that since Neji knew how to defend against Sasuke's tricks.

"This is not the point. The point is, Hinata-san escaped."

Sasuke got into the cab and watched as Neji sat beside him. Then he commented wearily, "I was not aware she has been taken prisoner."

"Of course you don't. It's a family matter." Neji retorts. "A while ago, Hinata-san has made some of her... wishes verbal, and Hyuuga-san was not pleased, hence he ... forbade her from going anywhere without supervision. Just recently we discovered she escaped, and after using several different tracking methods, we confirmed she went to Leon."

"What the hell would she go there?" Sasuke asked, "What's with that scum of a city? Suddenly it's so popular."

Neji looked away from Sasuke as he said, "It's because... Hinata-san wished to find Naruto."

Now Sasuke stared at him in surprise, "Why the hell would she want to do that?"

Neji took a breath and then said, "I believe, she has a slight... infatuation... with him."

Sasuke frowned unconsciously. Judging to Hinata's way of interaction with people, infatuation might be the strongest feeling she is able to feel. He did not know or even imagined she might have the guts to follow him all the way to another city, since he suspected she has been protected and lived in a bubble all her life. She's a little rich girl in a big and messy city without protection, of course it would cause problems. And because Sasuke currently is holding a lot of projects which consist joint efforts between the Uchihas and the Hyuugas, if Neji asked for his help, he has no reason to reject him-if this situation was normal.

Now it's not. Sasuke is going there to deal with a personal grudge, and he'd hate to drag everything in. But he cannot not ignore this...

"I have an idea." Sasuke said.

Neji looked at him.

"We can go to Naruto's house, and wait for her to show up." Sasuke finally said.

"That's a horrible idea." Neji said, "What if she does't show up until three days later? By then it'd be too late."

"I'm saying we should do it." Sasuke glared at him for not letting him finish, "Meanwhile we will.. I mean, you will, ask Itachi for help, Leon is within his jurisdiction."

Now it's Neji's time to be weary, "I would much rather not."

"Hits you right in your guts, doesn't it." Sasuke tossed out, "imagine being related to him."

"I'd rather not." Neji repeated.

"Well, that's the only plan I can could up with." Sasuke said, but then took a turn and muttered, "unless..."

"Unless?" Neji gained on him.

"Unless you ask for help, but not directly to Itachi." Sasuke said without much emotion, but secretly, he's grinning inside. "You can ask his wife."

Poor Neji, who did now know what hole he has jumped into, and Sasuke added oil to flame by saying, "I believe Chiro has met Hinata at some point, they are... friends, I think."

Of course by friend, it usually meant Chiro talked from north to south, from her frustrations to her happy times, from her art gallery to her trash bin, and Hinata sat politely and listened with interest.

"Of course. That might work." Neji's eyes widened, "I don't have her number-"

"Here." Sasuke immediately pulled his phone out.

"Thank you." Neji quickly entered it into his cellphone, "I'll call immediately when we land. This is best to be discussed face to face."

"Of course." Sasuke bit his lips from smiling. "Whatever you think is the best."

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TBC

A/N: I'm beginning to have doubts about this title.  
Dearest reviewers, we have good news and bad news here.

First the good news. I have been so encouraged by various reviews that I wrote nonstop for the past few days and finally managed to squeezed my muse dry and wrote 5 additional chapters, each is a good 3.5k to 4k word length, don't worry. Updates will be consistent.

The bad news is that as I write and plot for the future chapters, this story has turned into a entirely complicated and intricate plot that requires more than just two characters (namely Sakura and Sasuke) dancing around each other. Each other character including Itachi's family, Hinata, Neji, Naruto, Ino, Shizune, Kakashi etc etc are all going to appear in the future, and their story in turn forms the backstory behind Sakura and Sasuke.  
Needless to say this is not what I have planned. I planned for Sakura and Sasuke to get together and bam, make up, get married, happy days etc. But there really is too much to be told, as every step they take is the result or involves someone else close to them. There's too much at stake to simple get together or to abandon one another. So the side effect of this is... First, this story will be very long. Sigh. Another long story. Sigh..  
Second, there are still very much a lot of Sakura Sasuke interactions, and they are the focus point, but other characters makes up the meat, the pillars, the support for them. Therefore it is crucial to describe them too. So for each chapter, there will be a bit of Sakura and Sasuke (hopefully fifty percent), but the rest are about either flashbacks or other characters.

If any reader strongly objects and have suggestions, I shall take them into consideration. If every one of you objects fervently, I shall take into consideration and scrap away my idea of having a complicated plot and just go with the "bam bam bam bam bam" they get together they married the end.

Please tell me what you think.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: I'm very, very sorry for the delay. I'm working with a new beta.

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Chapter 4

I.

And all the King's horses and all the King's men  
Couldn't put Humpty back together again.

II.

Sakura managed to be late for work even at the early hour of seven-thirty. Ino was already there- jumping up and down under the roof edge to keep warm. Sakura quickly pulled out the door key and unlocked the door to the bar. The two are in charge of opening the bar everyday and cleaning up the mess from the night before. To maximize the revenue, the store owner only hired two girls to clean out the entire restaurant and several back rooms, making sure they work from seven late into the afternoons. They have short breaks throughout their shift, but can leave as soon as the bar is clean. There are just so many rooms to clean and tablecloths to change. On top of that, all the glasses and dishes have to be washed...

Sakura rarely gets out before five.

"I'm so sorry I'm late," Sakura apologized as she rushed them both in, and the usual scene was assembled in front of them: chairs thrown everywhere, broken glass and trash all over the floor and tables with the strong scent of booze and vomit saturating the air.

"It's alright," Ino said, quickly warming up and beginning to push all the tables and chairs to one side of the room, stacking them on top of one another.

"I'll do the rooms," Sakura said, quickly going into the washroom to fill a bucket full of soapy water and a mop. Then she grabbed a few rags hanging in the closet, some sanitizer and a cart to dump all the dishes in.

The girls quickly worked to wipe down, sweep, and mop the entire bar. By the time they were done it was almost noon and time for lunch their break. They scavenged the kitchen and found some leftovers. Ino sat on the kitchen counter chewing her bread with Nutella spread over it as Sakura devoured her mushroom soup and leftover strudel. Ino felt half-full as she chewed her food slowly, and then opened her mouth to talk to Sakura, "Sakura-chan, do you need money... urgently?"

"Sort of." Sakura didn't bother to hide it as she nodded, "My son..."

"You have a son already!?" Ino asked in surprise. The two girls had been working together for almost half a year, yet they didn't know much about each other, as each day exhausted them to the point where they didn't even want to socialize.

The two girls had been working together for almost half a year, yet they didn't know much about each other. They both could tell the other had her own problems from the beginning, and both knew the other didn't want to share. Over the months they merely conversed in small-talk, but had gained confidence in the friendship of the other.

"Yeah," Sakura answered, "He's six."

"I couldn't tell." Ino eyes quickly scanned Sakura. "I thought you must be, like, twenty-two."

"I'm two years older than that," Sakura smiled, "Thank you, though."

"Wow." Ino blinked. Then shook her head as she remembered what she was getting at. "Oh right. I know you frown upon this, but if you want more money you can work here at night..."

"I appreciate your offer, I really do." Sakura said kindly, "But I'm not a virgin anymore. I'm a mother now."

"I know. It's not what I'm implying," Ino waved her hand as she stopped spreading Nutella onto some more leftover rolls, "I meant, I'm trying it out just now. I've worked for, like, two weeks already. I don't work as a call girl, simply a cleaning lady. Basically what I do here. But there are more breaks and less to clean. Occasionally I bring out alcohol to the guests and set the table. It's really not that different."

Sakura thought about it. "I would, but I have to take care of my son at night, remember? I have to check his homework and cook for him..."

"Yeah, I figured," Ino sighed. "Oh well."

Sakura gobbled down her food and then continued to work. She replaced all the tablecloths and cleaned the kitchen while Ino polished off all the glass and silverware. When the man who re-stocks the bar came the two girls refilled all of the alcohol and food. Sakura sneaked some mushroom and a piece of chicken breast in her bag, thinking of preparing a mushroom sautéed chicken for dinner for Hikari. She could pick up a french baguette for two dollars on the way home for a fulfilling dinner. She smiled to herself and imagined all possible ways to cook the chicken. Perhaps she'll even make chicken strips, but then that would be a waste of oil. Well, it wouldn't be if she kept the leftovers...

The two girls met at the front entrance after their long shift was over. They started a habit soon after working together in which they would walk in companion for a few blocks before they had to separate and go their different ways.

On their walk Sakura decided to start up conversation: "Why do you need money?"

"I have a mother." Ino sighed, "She's... not well."

"Really?" Sakura asked, surprised. She supposed this was the feeling Ino had when she learned Sakura had a son. "What does she have?"

"Alzheimer's." Ino's said, keeping her tone completely calm. "Incurable. It's an endless money burning pit."

Sakura fell silent.

Ino continued, "Sakura, I'm not pretty like you, so I can't really sell myself for a higher price. But if I had the chance, I would definitely do it."

Sakura turned to Ino and said, "Ino, you're beautiful, but no matter what you look like, that thought shouldn't even cross your mind-"

"Oh Sakura," laughed Ino bitterly, "Enough. Enough talking about morals and ethics. I wasn't born in a rich family to begin with, and my mother and father gave me everything that I have now. Now that one of them is gone, I should take care of the other one. I'm just glad that they didn't give me any siblings."

Sakura wasn't in any position to judge, so she shut up.

"Really, Sakura, I'm sorry, I may sound awful, please don't be mad at what I suggested earlier." Ino said, she didn't even lift her sleeve to wipe her eyes, "I'm just... I sometimes want to...end it, but even life doesn't allow you that luxury, I have too many responsibilities."

"I know," Sakura thought aloud. "I know. I don't blame you. You just pointed out a way to make money, that's all."

The two girls parted as Sakura turned around to watch Ino's back. She walked down her street with her head held high, even though Sakura knew she had been tired after working all day. Sakura suddenly felt sympathy and admiration for the girl, and she knew too well of what that feeling was like. She once cried and cried by Hikari's bedside until she fainted and couldn't recognize what day it was. She also sat against the hospital windowsill, facing the countless number of hospital bills and prescription fees. She held a sleeping Hikari in her arms with the will to jump and end it all. But life had been so cruel to her because it dragged her back into reality and forced her to cope with everything bit by bit, as if she were a snail tugging the largest shell possible on her back, chugging along to its next destination without the chance or choice to stop. As her life went on and time went by, her hope was getting slimmer and slimmer, and with each step along the way her tears salted her entire path, until there was tears left to cry.

After reaching her home, she began cooking dinner for Hikari, watching as he carefully worked on his homework at the table. Sakura saw from the corner of her eye him cowering as he quickly stuffed a piece of paper into his backpack while trying to avoid her attention. She made no note of mentioning it as she laid the table with fresh french baguette and chicken with mushrooms. Hikari carefully split the portion of chicken equally into two and picked the slightly smaller one. Sakura laughed as she switched the two plates: "I don't even like chicken, silly baby."

After dinner Hikari cleaned the table and put the dishes into the washroom sink, while Sakura peeked into his backpack and found the paper was a form for a school field trip to the science center. It asked every parent to bring a check or cash of fifty dollars, as the trip include busing fee, lunch, tickets and tour guide. Hikari, even at this young age knew the difficulty of their financial situation, and it looked like he never intended to show this to her.

Sakura waited for tears to fall, but there were none. Hikari understood the workings of this world to the point that made her heartache.

She stuffed the form back when Hikari finished rinsing the dishes, "It's time for you to dry them, Mommy."

"Of course, baby." Sakura kissed him on the cheek as she shuffled to the washroom. Her eyes are red, but still no tears fell. She scavenged her mind and realized Hikari was right. There was no way she could afford fifty bucks out of thin air at this moment's notice. All her cash was spent on groceries and all she had left over from those monthly expenses was small change.

"I'll think of a way," she said as she dried the only four dishes and pot available to the two of them. "I'll think of a way."

After dinner, Hikari continued to practice on his homework. He knew how precious schooling was for him. When September came just over a month ago, Sakura was heavily debating whether or not to let him go to school. If he doesn't then the tuition can be saved to pay rent and various other bills, but it also meant that he's going be held back a year, as he is already five and eleven months old. And Hikari was so smart, he could solve puzzles and questions Sakura had for him within minutes. Like all other parents, Sakura had no doubt Hikari was going to be smartest kid in school. So Sakura squeezed money out of their strict budget: including asking an advance on her salary and asking everyone she knows for some money to pay for his tuition. Even then it was only enough for one semester, but the vice principal was kind enough to register him for a whole year, as per rule, and let Sakura save up for the second semester so she could pay later.

Sakura sighed inaudibly as she watched Hikari knelt formally while doing basic math. They are already too easy for him, but he doesn't complain as he completes every question with the utmost attention. This just made Sakura sadder, but she blinked her tears away as she thought up of an idea for the field trip.

"Hikari-kun." Sakura's soft voice cooed, "Mommy is going downstairs for half an hour. Be good, okay?"

"Okay," Hikari replied, scrambling up from his homework to give Sakura a kiss before she takes off, and as always he says, "You're pretty, mommy."

He learnt somewhere in the newspaper or a magazine that woman would like to be called pretty, so he made sure to do it as often as possible.

"Of course, baby." Sakura chuckled, her voice like a warm breeze, brushing through their room.

Sakura carefully locked the door behind her and ran down the stairs in her slippers. She walked through streets and got to the barber two blocks over. He had been bothering her to sell her hair for months, but Sakura never agreed.

With a few swipe of his scissors, the hair Sakura had been growing for a few years had been cut to just above her shoulders. The barber styled the bottom into layers for Sakura. Her beautiful hair- sixty centimeters long- was now in the hands of someone else. Sakura blinked her eyes, still nothing. She shook her head, and felt the weight has been lifted. Her head felt a lot lighter now.

"Here, a hundred and fifty dollars," The barber handed her cash.

Sakura took it gratefully, and tucked the money in her pocket as she ran back home. Her eyes were still dry.

III.

When Sakura was still young, her mother had died giving birth to her.

Now in this situation, the father of the girl can go two ways: either shun his child- forcing all possible causes for his spouse's death on his daughter- or to love the child to death and spoil her to no end while convinced he's giving her the love she has lost along with her mother.

In Sakura's case it was the latter.

Her whole world was controlled by her whims. It may seem like she was surrounded by everyone, but in truth she had no one except for an overly adoring dad. Her father, Sato Haruno, was extremely powerful in the underground world, and took control of everything in Leon to dominate his city: including the supply of water ways, drugs, alcohol, and illegal immigrants. With Leon so close to the sea, many people escaped to the city over the water.

Uchiha Sasuke was one of them.

He escaped to the city with his brother when he was twelve and landed right in the orphanage. After a few days, Itachi mysteriously disappeared, and Sasuke didn't see him over the next decade.

When Sasuke was almost seventeen, Sato Haruno came to the orphanage to adopt a boy to train to be his right hand. The caretaker taught Sasuke to speak in manner and utter sweet words so a family might adopt him, but when the families came Sasuke stared straight into space and didn't make a sound. Sato thought he had enough character to run with him through a rain of bullets and sea of fire, and thus Sasuke went home with him that day.

Sasuke was grateful, of course. He began to catch up with his studies as he started from high school and went through university. His education was all paid by Haruno, and Sasuke worked for him in repayment.

Sasuke had friends back then too. Naruto was beside him when he was young, and Karin came a little later, but they still all grew up together. Karin is Naruto's half sister, and they both bore the same last name. However they look nothing alike besides the fact they're both slightly taller than the average person. Sasuke is a guy who doesn't forgive and doesn't forget. When he grew up and began earning money, he shared equally with his friends and introduced Naruto to Sato too. Of course Sato was pleased and both boys worked under him through the most dangerous missions, trips, and transactions.

During that time, Sakura Haruno, the family princess, was fascinated with Sasuke. Who wouldn't be? Sasuke had a classically handsome face, as every one of his features are perfect. When put together, they composed a heavenly creation that's God's gift to woman. Despite the fact that Sasuke emerged through the muddy waters, he stood tall in the face of danger. This naturally caused him to have a sense of pride and arrogance, and his beautiful face didn't help much either. Perhaps it's in the Uchiha blood, but he has been extremely stoic from the start.

Despite that, Sakura was certain he was hers.

There was one problem though, and it took form in the shape of a red haired girl who was always beside Sasuke: Karin.

The difference between Sakura and Karin were clear as the previous was spoilt and bratty, while the latter has been through enough hardships to become a clever and cunning society mole. Both are beautiful, as Sakura has practically bathed in riches all her life, but Karin had been forced to know that that "if a girl is two-faced, to at least make one of them pretty."

Sakura, being a childish girl, often asked everyone around her, "Who's prettier, me or Karin?"

And the answer she got undoubtedly pleased her.

When Sasuke was adopted into the family, Sakura was still twelve. They had an age different of five years, but the age difference between Karin and Sasuke was only one year, and by that logic, it was very possible that Karin would be able to "get" him before Sakura did. And the mere thought terrified Sakura. She had fun fantasizing about him, and she had fun shyly approaching him. She and her friends used to look at him from afar and giggle, and everyone agreed he was the perfect man to ever grace on this earth. She adored him with all her heart, and every time he was in the room her eyes automatically went to him, glued onto him, and hoping he would look at her the same way.

He didn't, of course. In his eyes she was like a lamp: a very luxurious and fragile lamp.

But over the years, whenever Sakura got into various sticky situations, such as a cat fight in school to being kidnapped, usually it was Sasuke who came in to save the day. And this just magnified her impression of him, and it caused her to imagine him to be a knight in shining armor, born to save her from her boring and restricted life.

And as days went by, Sakura became more and more anxious. She swore what happened next was completely spontaneous, and it wasn't planned at all, but fate has a cruel way to twist things upside down just for fun. Sakura learned about it the hard way, and what happened after that was completely her own fault.

On her seventeenth birthday, her father threw her a party that could be passed down as a fairy tale for ages. Everybody who was somebody was in attendance, and the party was held in the biggest plaza in the city, where everything was done to perfection. At the time of blowing out the candles, Sakura made three wishes that were identical and all had to do with a particular dark haired boy. Her father was so pleased and overwhelmed with the growth of his daughter that he made a bold promise.

"Sakura, what did you wish for? Whatever it is, you will have it. Right here, right now. If you wish for the stars, I will immediately contact the astrology society to name a star after you. If you wish for the moon, I will donate a sizable amount to NASA for them to carve your name on the moon. Whatever you want, dear, you shall have."

That was when Sakura pointed her hands at the boy standing far by the corners, "I want him, Daddy. I want Sasuke."

And the entire hall was in complete silence as Sato Haruno gestured for Sasuke to come up.

Sasuke walked up the steps numbly under the jealous gaze of everyone present. In truth, when her finger laid on him, he lost all his train of thought for a moment, but then after that moment waves and waves of humiliation and disbelief crashed over him.

As previous stated, Sasuke is a very, very proud man. He loathed the circumstances where he had no choice in any matter, and his destiny was in the hands of a seventeen year old brat. And the worst of all, she sat there, so close to the top, on her adorning seat, and pointing at him as if he's a commoner and she's a queen. What came after was equally disbelieving, as Sato Haruno "ordered" him to marry his daughter, as if his life is less than that of a bug, and they could toy with his freedom however they wanted.

He felt that Sakura was crazy- that she was completely out of her mind, and her insane dad simply followed along to whatever crazy scheme she had that involved toying with him until he had no dignity left.

What came after was entirely disappointing to everyone. Sasuke thought about eloping- about escaping the crazy Haruno family, and he did. One night, he took everything he owned and escaped with Karin.

Of course, with Haruno's connections, they were cut off before they even boarded the flight. Out of a sense of duty, Sasuke pushed Karin away and asked her to run before they were caught, and Karin escaped with everything in tact while Sasuke was brutally punished.

Before that, though, he was taken to Sakura, while she sat on top, as always, and he was tied completely underneath, and she looked down at him with melancholy in her big, green eyes.

"What do you want to do with him?" Her father asked her like a king. "Whatever you want, princess, whatever you want with him."

Sakura just shook her head before she blinked and tears fell. She was unhappy, and the whole world knew of it. She turned around and walked away without a single syllable uttered. To compensate for her unhappiness, they dealt with Sasuke in every cruel way possible.

They whipped him like a dog and put him down in the dark rooms where traitors go. They buried him alive and kept an oxygen monitor, only to release him with two minutes of oxygen left. They hung him upside down on a pole and and slashed various marks around his body.

Throughout all this, Sasuke maintained as calm as possible. He bit his lips and swore, he swore that one day he will find revenge to this, and one day, he would repay Sakura back slowly, in bits and fragments. He will push her to the edge, and watch when she no choice but to fall pieces.

But it would be a little while until then.

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TBC

A/N: The next update will be in a couple of days as a compensation for the lateness. Thank you very much.

I decided to write all characters in and stick with a tricky plot.

As grateful as I am for my current beta, I'm searching for another one to give a fresh set of eyes-and of course there's another story which desperately need to be edited. Please contact me if anyone is interested.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

I.

Leaves swirling within the woods, and birds singing of a star,  
At that time of our youth, our story was drawn out with char.  
We fell asleep under the bright sun beams,  
There was never flower in never dreams.

II.

Hinata wandered around the city with a hoodie and a cup of Starbucks coffee.

She had never been out in a city alone: it kind of frightened her at first. Then she slowly widened her proximity and wandered around a bit, she found that many people in the city had their own things to do and hardly took notice of her, which defied what she had previously had been told: "if you're alone, Hinata-san, you will be eaten up by the city folks."

Now, she suspected many things she was told were merely just tales to frighten her. She has been drinking a latte for half an hour and she didn't have the unusual stomach pain she should've felt by now. Coffee made her felt slightly woozy, though, but she suspected it was because she put too much sugar into it to counter the bitterness.

She had an idea of where Naruto might be, because he updates his status location every now and then, and she took a cab to his last updated status feed, which was in a ramen shop. She wished by staying there the entire day she can catch a sight of him, and eventually follow him back to his apartment. She didn't really have much of a plan after that, but it was all she had and she planned to firmly stick to it.

She had liked Naruto since he appeared in her life almost seven years ago. His way of talking to people had influenced her immensely. She dreamt of one day being as open as he is and always so optimistic. She reached for him as if he was her obsession, and every single syllable he said made her swoon in happiness. It was only when she turned twenty and her father ordered her to do something about her single status that she began to panic.

If anyone, anyone at all, would bother to ask her why she would ever fall for Naruto Uzumaki, a boy with no background, no business, no reputation, no power- she would reply that he's the first person to ever treat her as his equal.

This is not in the sense as anyone would expect. She is an heiress, and her job is to learn manners and etiquette and she is meant to be ogled and admired. But at various parties when she approached Naruto while he was alone he showed her everything she wanted to see but didn't dare to. Naruto showed her different parts of a gun, how to use a knife, and how to do basic training. These meetings were brief and rare, but Naruto took pity on her when she told him of her suffocating family. When he asked if there's anything he could do, Hinata could not have the courage to ask him to take her away. She may be naive, but she's not stupid. She could tell that if she asked, he would attempt to do so and there would be no doubt that Naruto to be killed. Her father is unlike Sakura's father. The previous has taught her didactic discipline and perseverance, while the latter spoilt his daughter to no end.

Of course, Hinata was firmly shielded away from all the ugliness of this world. She still doesn't know half the dealings that the Hyuugas did, nor does she care to find out, but she has an idea that her family must have dealings underground. But the true extent of her family's cruelness did not come until she realized her family had a hand in Haruno's downfall. Of course it's all not as simple as it sounded, but the sole fact that they watched and refused to help when the Haruno had no where to turn was shocking enough. This is the family that the Hyuugas swore an alliance with back when their grandfathers were still alive.

Hinata already felt bad enough, and at that time she was only fourteen. She wouldn't have known what had happened between their families if Naruto had not climbed up to her window one night, begging for her help. Hinata mentioned it to her father the next day, and except for help, she was treated with an hour-long lecture on the harshness of this world, and "there's no forever enemies or forever friends, only forever profits." And at that time, the downfall of Harunos would profit the Hyuugas.

Hinata felt awful, but she was so young and so innocent back then. She managed to see Sakura a few months later, and by that time Sakura was alone and destitute. Hinata handed everything she was carrying then to Sakura, including her handbag, her backpack, her bracelets, hairpins and jacket. Hinata was crying while Sakura just sighed.

That was the last time Hinata saw her. She did not distinctively remember, but she thought that Sakura had a larger bulge on her stomach. She did not think of it further, as when she got back the next day she was chastised by her father.

There is nobody in this world that she would rather marry other than Naruto. She has long established that. She was so sure of her decision that it became a belief at some point in her life. Philosophically speaking, over obsession of something might cause a strong belief and eventually it borders close to religion. Hinata had no doubt, where all she cared about was him, and no one else. As she made her wishes clear, her family laughed in her face, of course.

And that resulted in her little adventure of following Naruto here to this city.

This is not going well because she thought she could catch Uzumaki Naruto, but she waited and waited, only to find Uchiha Chiro came into the shop with her daughter, Erika, who is of a more mischievous caliber than Chiro.

Hinata quickly flipped around so her back is facing them, while her hood was still attached so they can't recognize her by her hair. She has no doubt that Neji has asked the Uchiha family for help, for they were the ones basically dominate the city nowadays.

The first thing Erika said when she sat down was, "I sure hope Hinata-obachan is here today."

Hinata's heart practically jumped to her throat.

"Well, she's probably back in York." Chiro said as she frowned over her menu, "I don't understand why we had to come here for ramen. If you want to meet Naruto-ojiisan, just say so."

"Oh I do." Erika said innocently, "But not yet."

Chiro rolled her eyes, "Sometimes you take so much after your father I'm scared of what you're going to be when you grow up."

"I'll be fine." Erika laughed sweetly, "Mommy, can you give me your phone? I want to call Naruto-ojiisan."

"Again? He already said he'd be on his way." Chiro frowned at her daughter. She's planning something, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

"Pleaaaaase?" Erika asked, her voice getting sweeter by the second, "Pleasssssssssse?"

"Where's yours?" Chiro asked, "You have one, don't even deny it. I saw your father snuck you one."

"It ran out of batteries because I played too many games on it," Erika admitted it without shame. "He was worried just in case I got kidnapped by bad people."

"I'd be more afraid for the bad people," Chiro grumbled as she pulled out her phone and handed to Erika.

Erika unlocked the screen and giggled at the background, "Mommy, why do you have a picture of a cactus as your background?"

"Your father kept changing it to his photo. I had enough of his face during the day. I'd rather look at that than unlocking the screen every time and have a small heart attack," Chiro said with a tone that couldn't be distinguished as sarcastic or not.

Erika scrolled through the list of contacts, but could find Naruto under "N". Then she scrolled to "B", it seemed "BAKA" isn't there either. Then she scrolled to "T", and realized there's a contact with the sole name, "TEME". Knowing for sure it's Naruto, she pressed call and the phone connected her through.

III.

Hikari was packing his bag this morning when Sakura handed him fifty dollars for the school trip. He was so happy that he kissed Sakura's cheeks eight times. He even complimented on her haircut: "You look prettier, mommy."

Sakura smiled and felt comforted by the fact that kids can be so easily satisfied. Something so simple could make him so happy, and at that moment, the small room was enveloped in bliss-and then Hikari's body begin to shake uncontrollably.

Sakura was horrified and abandoned everything and dialed on Naruto's number for help.

It's painful, watching her son spasming on the floor, helpless. Especially when she learnt he has been taking half the dosage that he has usually been taking because he was aware the pills takes up too much money. When Naruto rushed here, Sakura was crying and wailing while holding onto Hikari, and Naruto quickly sent him to the hospital.

After a morning rush, Hikari was scheduled to stay in the hospital for the next three days. He fell asleep soon, and Naruto and Sakura was staying by his bed side for a couple of hours, watching him.

It was then Naruto received a call from Erika.

"Erika-chan, now is not a good time." Naruto whispered into his phone.

Erika asked blatantly, "Are you with another lady right now?"

Naruto looked nervously towards Sakura who was sitting by Hikari's bedside, "How did you know?"

"Can you bring her along, please? You promised I get to meet her. We can all have ramen together!"

Naruto was speechless for a second, "Uh..."

"Pleaaaaaaaaaase?" Erika extended it into a five second syllable, "Naruto-ojiisan, I promise never to make fun of you again... for a week. Pleaaaaaase?"

"Well, Sakura?" Naruto asked the pink haired girl, "Do you want to go have some ramen? We can bring an order back for Hikari. The nurse said it's ok to leave for a while, anything wrong the machine will detect it."

Sakura shook her head, "I really don't want to."

"Please, Sakura-chan. You look like hell, and I think you haven't had a square meal in months."

Sakura thought about how when Hikari woke up, he would be faced with crappy hospital food, so she might as well go to a restaurant and order something good for him. If she was alone she would refuse and maintain her pride, but now that she has a son there was no pride left in her. She could only nod and ask, "This won't take long, would it?"

"Of course not. One hour tops." Naruto promised.

IV.

Sakura and Naruto entered the ramen shop, Erika waved to them as they approached. Sakura was forcefully dragged to their booth. Naruto introduced them, "This is Itachi-san's wife, Chiro-san. This is his daughter, Erika-chan."

"Hi." Sakura bowed nervously while her hands went up to her hair, remember she didn't brush it this morning, but then she remembered she has short hair now. She let out a bitter smile before she finished her bow.

Chiro exclaimed, "oh, Sakura-chan, you're prettier than I remembered."

"Ah, I remember her too," Erika said.

"You've never met her, Erika." Chiro scolded.

"I saw her picture in Sasuke-ojiisan's offi-"

"Haha, kids say the craziest things..." Chiro managed to cover Erika's mouth before she continued.

Sakura visibly shook a little as she sat down. She didn't speak as Naruto ordered for her, while telling her, "Don't worry, we'll take an order to go for Hikari."

Sakura nodded shyly.

In truth, Chiro has only met Sakura briefly during a huge Christmas eve party years ago. Both knew of each other, but hardly remembered one another. Chiro later learnt this girl has always had a special place in Sasuke's heart, most likely in the murder department. But it had been such a long time ago, and this girl looked as if she has suffered so much, Chiro didn't know whether to talk to her or not. She's not particularly afraid of Sasuke, but she is definitely afraid of Itachi. Itachi has been protective of his little brother, and he has never had the chance to choose between the two of them because Chiro has been avoiding that.

Erika, however, did not care. She talked to Sakura about why her hair is so pink, why is her hair only black, and then she turned to Chiro and asked if she can dye her hair pink, to which Chiro could only reply, "How about you ask your uncle first?"

And then it became apparent that every time Sasuke was mentioned Sakura shook a little, which caused Naruto to glare at Chiro, and Chiro glared right back.

It was until Chiro's phone rang, Erika took a glance at it and said, "Mommy, it's Daddy."

Chiro quickly grabbed it as if it's her life line, which metaphorically, it probably is. She quickly said, "Excuse me, I have to take this. Naruto, watch Erika, and make sure she doesn't stuff peas up her nose like last time or something."

Naruto looked away in embarrassment, "It was only one time! Geez how many times do you have to remind me of that?"

Chiro quickly walked to the washroom appearing at the end of the hallway, and after enclosing herself in an empty space, she pressed "enter", and before Itachi could say anything, she blasted out, "I swear your daughter is an exact replica of you. What have you been teaching her and filling her mind with such diabolical plots you son of a-"

"Why is it that whenever she won an award at school she's 'your daughter', but when she's in trouble she's 'mine'?" Itachi's calm voice rang through.

"Because, whatever trouble she got into must all be your doing. Why is it that you never punish her?"

"She's smart enough to know she has done wrong, punishments are not needed." Itachi said smoothly, "I thought you guys are meeting Naruto for ramen? What possible trouble could she have gotten into? Did Naruto teach her how to play with knives again?"

"That was you."

"I admit nothing."

Chiro took a long breath in and out then said, "Itachi, do you know Haruno Sakura?"

"I know of her." Itachi waited for his wife to continue. He just received information that his brother's plane is going to land in Leon in five minutes.

"Well, I was just looking at her, and she doesn't look well." Chiro said worriedly, "I mean, she has ... Does... Sasuke... I..."

Itachi waited until she couldn't splutter out another word, then he said without much emotion, "She's out of our hands, Chiro. I know she hasn't been living well."

"You knew!?"

"We're Leon, dear."

Chiro silenced. There's only two occasions in which Itachi call her dear: one is to compensate her lack of quickness in her intelligence, another is to calm her over when she's extremely mad. In this case it's clearly the previous.

"She has a son, Chiro," Itachi decided to tell her.

Chiro almost ceased breathing. "Wha...what?"

"We have a nephew." Itachi's voice was cold, "He is a year older than Erika."

"And you didn't think to tell me all these years?" Chiro almost screamed.

"It's not in our place." Itachi simply said, "It's her decision, we need to respect that."

"You son of a-"

"Mommy, mommy!" Erika knocked on the washroom door, "I want to talk to Daddy too!"

Chiro hung up on Itachi and then stomped out of the washroom, "Too bad. We're not going back home today."

"But why?" Erika's eyes widened.

"You can go back if you want to," Chiro glared, "I'm not."

"I'll stay with you." Erika said, "But where are we going to go?"

Chiro didn't answer because she haven't thought that far yet. She stomped back to the booth, but nearly had an heart attack, because on her way back she clearly saw Hinata, the princess of the Hyuugas, sitting alone in the booth next to theirs, with her head lowered and her eyes closed in pain.

Then she looked on to the next booth, and saw Naruto kneeling down on one knee, "Sakura, please."

The pink haired girl was flushed and disbelieving, "Naruto, no- you can't-"

"Please, let me take care of you guys. Especially with Hikari's condition. After this morning... I don't want you guys ever live alone in that apartment. Move in with me, we can be friends, or be couples, we can get married, we can do whatever you feel to make you happy, please, Sakura. Please." Naruto breathed out, his voice genuine and sincere.

It was then Erika interrupted them and pointed at the booth, "Hinata-Obachan?"

Hinata's tears fell into her ramen bow as she stood up slowly, then bowed deeply to Chiro, "Uchiha-san."

Chiro returned the gesture while bending Erika's little head too, "Hinata-san."

Then Hinata turned very slowly to the two behind them, and bowed with equal respect, "Sakura-san, Naruto-san."

The two stared at her, since she was crying and sobbing while she bowed. She then ran outside and onto the streets, which Chiro faintly had a premonition that it's not going to be safe. She wanted to chase after her, but it's unlikely because Erika would be left alone. The result was dead silence while Chiro stomped on her feet, "Oh this is just fucking perfect."

"Chiro-san," Naruto stared.

"Oh bite me!" Chiro roared at him, which caused Naruto to cower in fear.

Sakura stood up, "Naruto-kun, I think I need to return to the hospital, Hikari-"

"Hospital? Who's in the hospital?" Chiro caught that, "Can I come? I'm going to go. Which hospital?"

"Calm down." Naruto quickly said, "We all can go, can we?"

Sakura bit her lips. "If you wish."

"Let's go." Chiro said.

Erika tugged on Naruto's sleeves and said, "will I finally get to meet my cousin now? You promised I would."

Naruto put a finger to his lips and said, "Shhh-" which made Chiro glare at both of them with annoyance. "Itachi already told me."

"Oh."

They all fell in to silence as Naruto tossed a few bills onto the table and rushed them all to his car parked outside. On the ride over, Chiro asked Sakura, "Why is he in the hospital?"

"He had a seizure this morning." Sakura said emotionlessly.

"What... What does he have?" Chiro almost stuttered.

"Autism," Sakura replied. Her eyes averted Chiro's gaze as she looked outside.

"I'm so sorry," Chiro could only say.

"What's autism?" Erika suddenly asked.

The girls didn't speak, so Naruto explained, "It's when a little boy or girl like you doesn't like to play or talk with others."

"And?" Erika went further, "Why is he in the hospital?"

"Because, Erika." Naruto said, "When he has really, really, bad autism, he has seizures sometimes."

"What's seizure?"

"It's when you can't think and control your body, and your arms and legs shakes."

"Like when mommy cries in silent?"

"... Sort of." Naruto replied. He really doesn't want to continue this conversation.

The car was dead silent for a few minutes, before a soft sob came from Erika, and then followed by small weeping. Naruto honestly could not remember the last time he has saw Erika ever crying. She was a baby that was as proud as her father and uncle, and she hardly ever used crying as a tactic. But this doesn't seem like one of her tactics. Chiro patted her daughter and asked, "What's wrong, princess?"

Erika shook her head violently and her tears fell onto her suede pants, staining them like coins. She wiped her eyes and cried, "I don't want him to have autism. I want him to play with me: I want him to talk to me."

"Erika..." Chiro hugged her in her arms, "Don't cry, please."

"I've been looking forward to meeting him ever since Naruto-ojiisan told me I have a cousin." Erika sobbed, "I don't want him to have seizures, mommy, I don't want him to shake. When you shake I get scared and sad, and I don't want to be scared and sad."

Sakura sighed one more time, and looked out the window again. "He'll be alright." Sakura whimpered, "He'll be alright."

The group rushed into the hospital as soon as Naruto dropped them off. He went to parked the car while the girls ran to the elevator. Erika was half sobbing and laughing at the same time. She was so excited to finally meet him, and Chiro was equally excited that she almost tripped once.

Sakura was first, as she stumbled into Hikari's room while carefully turning the handles to not to wake him, she froze in sight as she realized Hikari was not the only one in the room.

There he was, Uchiha Sasuke, standing beside his son's bedside.

When he heard the movement coming from the door, his head turned slowly to her and his eyes glared at her with pure hatred.

Sakura backed off a step just from his glare alone, and she swore, at that moment her heart almost stopped beating. It was at that moment her entire body suddenly burnt with pain, she crouched down slightly to make it easier, and at that moment, her tears finally came out from her eyes as they dripped onto the floor, making small pit-a-pat sounds.

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TBC

A/N: I've researched Hikari's illness and one in four patients of autism have seizures. In this chapter his condition is oversimplified for Erika's sake. In the future it will be elaborated.

Reviews and comments appreciated. Looking for another beta.

PS: The last line of the four line at the beginning on top was drawn from a Chinese poem. I roughly weaved them together.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Many thanks to my beta-silentworld11

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Chapter 6

I.

Don't you notice how helplessly I'm lost  
That's why I'm following you

-Garner

II.

Hinata was wandering around the city and crying when she sat at a nearby bench and watched as a girl beside her eating tacos. This girl had long, flowing blond hair and a determination in her eyes. She noticed Hinata staring at her, so she asked, "Do you want a taco?"

Hinata shook her head.

"Quit staring at me," She said, and Hinata quickly averted her eyes.

After Ino finished her taco, she wiped her mouth roughly with a napkin in her pocket and asked, "Why are you crying?"

Hinata shook her head again, and Ino sneered, "probably some rich girl problems."

Hinata shook her head, and as if to prove her wrong, she said, "I'm in love with a boy, and I chased him all the way to this city, but I just found out he likes someone else."

Ino raised her eyebrow. "Stab that bitch."

Hinata blurted out: "I can't. I know her, and she's really quite kind."

"Huh," Ino said wiping her hands, "Oh well. That's how life goes. What are you going to do now?"

Hinata doesn't know. So she doesn't say anything.

Ino glanced at her cellphone. She has nothing to do for the rest of the day anyways. She just got off work and she didn't feel like going to the nursing home to visit her mother. Each time she goes she gets even sadder, knowing the woman doesn't even recognize her anymore. So she plopped down beside Hinata and asked, "Well, tell me the entire story."

"I-I don't know if I sh-should," Hinata stuttered.

Ino waved, "Just use letters. so you're A, and you're in love with this boy, B, and B is in love with another girl, C. Is that right?"

"…Yes." Hinata thought about it, and nodded.

"What about C though, does she love B back?" Ino asked.

"I don't know. But I don't think so," Hinata whispered, "She... she loved D."

"Whoa, this just became complicated." Ino frowned, and then realized her head can't comprehend this many letters, so she pulled out a piece of paper from her backpack and a pencil. "Here, I'll draw a chart. So A loves B, B loves C, C doesn't love B, C instead loved D. Wait, you said loved. Past tense?"

Hinata thought about it, and then said, "I don't know if she still does now, but she loved him six years ago."

"Six years ago? Why doesn't she love him now?"

"Well..." Hinata tried to put this as logically as possible, "D's family brought down C's family, so C had no where to go..."

"Oh, so C is a girl who fell from the riches." Ino said, drawing a broken crown beside C, "Is D rich now?"

"Yes, I think so."

Ino examined the diagram she drew, then asked, "Who else is rich in this love rectangle?"

"Well, B is, sort of." Hinata thought hard, because this stranger of a girl is helping her sort out all her problems, she felt obligated to tell the truth and nothing but.

So Ino drew a crown on B, while she looked at Hinata from top to bottom, "Yeah, you're rich too. I'll draw a crown on you too."

Then they stared at the diagram again. After a while, Ino deduced, "So basically, everybody's rich except for C."

"Um..." Hinata had to agree.

"Whoa. It looks like B and C are having a Cinderella tale." Ino said, "Well in this case, it's all up to C's personality. If she's a bitch then she's a gold digger. If she's nice then she's just a regular nice girl who has been roped into all this mess."

Hinata begin to sob a little, "But C is the nicest person ever."

"Well, shit." Ino drew a heart right next to C, and then looking at Hinata, she said, "I think you're nice too."

"Thanks," Hinata said.

So Ino drew a bigger heart beside A.

"This is such a mess." Ino glared, "This B guy must be worth it."

"He is the nicest guy ever." Hinata whimpered, "he can't help but help everyone who comes across his path. He is so just and kind, and he treated me with respect too..."

"Mhmm..." Ino thought about it more, then drew a heart next to B, "he must be a really handsome guy."

"Do you want to see a photo of him?" Hinata scavenged in her Burberry tote.

"Sure," Ino looked over, and what she saw almost made her cough up blood, "That? That?"

"He's the best." Hinata said defensively and shielding her phone away from Ino's further scrutiny.

"Uh..." Ino refused to argue. "Do you have any pictures of C or D?"

"Not really," Hinata replied, scrolling through her phone. There are pictures of her kitty and her sister, but that was basically it.

Ino suddenly had an idea, "I think you should seduce D."

"Wh...what?!" Hinata's eyes opened wide, "I can't! He's very scary!"

"Scary, huh." Ino pondered. "Well, you should make C get away from B and into the arms of D."

"I doubt anyone would get into the arms of D." Hinata grumbled.

"Do you mean he's very mean and scary?" Ino asked.

Hinata nodded.

Then Ino drewed a big "x" beside D.

Both girls examined the diagram for a while, until Ino declared, "This is hurting my head, do you want to come and visit my mom with me?"

"Your mother?" Hinata's eyes widened, "Where is she?"

"Just across the street." Ino pointed, "In that nursing home."

"Oh." Hinata had never been in one, but she knew what they were and she doubted that she would encounter danger over there, so she nodded. "It might be good to visit the elderly once in a while."

"Right." Ino rolled her eyes, "Come on, let's go before I change my mind."

Hinata thought that statement was a bit weird, but she didn't bother to ask as they crossed the streets and reached the other side, where "Green Pines Elderly's Home" has been painted on top. Hinata looked around once they entered and commented, "This place looks nice."

"For three grand a month, it better be." Ino commented dryly.

"Wow." Hinata felt as if a sound of amazement was in cue. In truth she has no sense or value of money, and objectively speaking, her entire outfit and accessories she has on right now can comfortably pay for Ino's mother to stay here for three months, and then some.

"Yeah." Ino said, and then checked in with the front desk. The girl working there handed her the check-in form and said, "Ino-chan, you should go in and see your mother now, she has been asking for you, and she's in one of her clearer states."

Ino nodded, her eyes grew a little brighter as she motioned behind her, "This is my friend. She's here to visit too."

"Of course, sign here please." The girl pushed the form to her. Hinata looked at the form and asked, "Will a stamp do? I brought mine today."

"Yeah it's fine." The girl nodded.

Hinata pulled out her little Hyuuga crest stamp and pushed it down. Ino already walked down the hallway, and Hinata quickly followed.

They walked a bit further until Ino knocked on the door on the right. There was a voice, "Come in."

They entered, and Hinata saw a very clean room and a woman sitting on the rocking chairs. Ino knelt down in front of her and said, "Mother, are you ok?"

The woman caressed Ino's hair, and said, "I'm fine. I want to tell you that I don't need to be here. Just send me back home, I can manage by my self."

Ino shook her head, "I can't do that. Remember how you got lost once?"

The woman's eyebrows knotted together, as if trying hard to remember, "Really?"

"Yes, mother." Ino said and then sat down on the floor, tired, "I'm just making sure you're okay here. I don't want you to wander off again."

Hinata bowed to her, "Hello."

Ino's mother ignored her completely as she stared into the distance for a while, and then she suddenly grabbed a hold of Ino's hair and screamed, "Where is my husband? Where is my husband? What did you do to him?"

Ino scrambled to get up but it's hard with her mother kicking on her stomach, Ino tried to shake free of her grasp while getting away, "Calm down, mother, calm down!"

"You killed my husband, did you? You killed my husband!" She screamed louder and louder, until the nurses came, and all the while Ino argued stubbornly, "I didn't kill him, I didn't kill him: it wasn't my fault. It wasn't, it wasn't!"

Hinata stared at the entire scene until the nurses rushed them out, while one of them apologized, "I'm sorry, Ino-chan, she was completely normal this entire morning."

Ino straightened out her hair and said, "It's fine. I'll visit next week."

Hinata followed Ino outside, and saw Ino wipe her eyes and tie her hair back into a pony tail, then smooth over her shirt and jeans. She flipped her hair around and said, "My father was killed when I asked him to take another route to buy me a present."

Hinata didn't know what to say.

"I didn't kill him," Ino insisted, "I wasn't in the car."

"No, you didn't," Hinata immediately said.

"I'm sorry you had to see that," Ino sighed.

"It's alright," Hinata comforted.

Ino walked to the bus stop, and Hinata followed. Ino then got on the bus, so did Hinata. She then got off the bus and walked into a shabby neighbourhood, Hinata followed her like a little tail.

Ino pushed open the door to her apartment, and walked straight into the kitchen, "What do you want to have for dinner?"

"Anything is fine." Hinata replied.

Ino stewed rice porridge on the stove for a long time, then boiled some beans along with seasoned cabbage. She pulled out fish fillets she gutted and prepared several days ago from the freezer, allowed it to defrost in hot water and then coated them with a layer of starch and flower after dipping them in egg wash. She then pan fried them on her skillet, while spreading a little salt and pepper on top.

Hinata set the table, and the two girls ate in complete silence.

It was the first time in a while that Hinata felt so satisfyingly full. She ate a lot, and Ino sometimes laughed out loud at her.

After dinner Ino said, "I'm Yamanaka Ino."

"I'm Hyuuga Hinata," Hinata replied.

"Cool." Ino cleared the table the girls sat together for the rest of the evening on the couch to watch a re-run of Bleach.

III.

Perhaps Hikari was not conceived at the exact loving circumstances, and that's why he wasn't born with perfection.

This thought has entered Sakura's mind countless times, and each time she watched Erika so happy, her heart bled a little when she compared Erika with Hikari.

Almost seven years ago, Sakura forced Sasuke to marry her. It was done through a series of blackmail, threats, intimidation, punishments and brutal force.

It was a grand wedding... well, as grand as it could be. It's bogus, though, because the bride was willing but the groom wasn't.

He didn't touch her that night, nor did he touch her months after. Sakura didn't bother to think more of it: she was just content that he was beside her.

It wasn't until one day she caught Sasuke talking with Karin that she lost it. Her worst fear was to loose Sasuke to her, and at the time she naturally deemed Karin to be in a status that's below her own. She wanted desperately to ask him why is it that he loved Karin instead of her, and whatever she did wrong, she could change. She was willing to get plastic surgery for him: she was even willing to hide her face in a bag if she had to. Her love for him went beyond her morals and values, and it was so strong it became her obsession and completely possessed her mind.

She didn't know, back then, what the definition of love should be. She didn't know and she wouldn't know because she was spoilt and she has been living a life without worry. She didn't know how to play games or how to perform tricks. Unlike Karin's cleverness, Sakura was like an innocent baby.

Karin has been naturally perceptive. She knows exactly what to say at the exact moment. She has been trained by life to roughen up her edges and turn her into a society flower that is adored by everyone. She has tact and sensitivity, and of course that pleased Sasuke. Sasuke was only a hot-blooded young man with extraordinary pride and arrogance back then. He was not fit to take care of, or even interact with a spoilt princess. He wanted things she cannot give, and he worked very hard to strive for those things, but Sakura came somewhere along the way and diverted his path completely the wrong way.

If one would blame someone, one could only blame fate. Those two should be meant for each other, but they met at the wrong place and the wrong time. Sakura's love was suffocating him, making him more anxious and annoyed at her, and it eventually turned into hatred. Sakura doesn't know what else to do to make him love her, and with each interaction of him with Karin, Sakura realized the urgent need to bind him to her.

Her mind has yet to comprehend how to please someone like Sasuke, and she assumed a mindless love with no sense of direction would do it, and of course, she was dead wrong. But she had to try, because there was one thing she understood that was right: If she didn't do something-anything-she was going to loose him.

So she fed him a very strong aphrodisiac, and on top of that she tied him onto the bed post.

It was perhaps the most humiliating thing that ever happened to him. Sakura was crying when she enveloped him within her. She asked him over and over, "do you love me now? Do you love me at all?" And her response was silence.

That was, perhaps, the moment that decided Uchiha Sasuke's intent to kill her. But before that, he decided he was going to put her through the exact same humiliation that he has been through, and make her pay with everything she could afford. She's going to live in disgrace, in poverty, in suffering and pain.

It was the only time Sasuke had touched her, and apparently, that time has impregnated Sakura.

The rest came so fast as if they were all a dream. Suddenly, Sasuke's elder brother, Itachi returned to Leon with immensely powerful connections an army of mafia behind him. Everybody knew that he made his mark in York and extended his influence out to other cities, but he concentrated in Leon because as it turned out, he had a baby brother working in the hands of the Harunos. Sato Haruno was busy dealing with Itachi, and did not realize that his enemy and his right handed man was closely related until it was too late, and by that time, his entire estate and power were like a house of cards, and with the tiniest push, he fell down- and everyone following him fell along with him.

The story of how Itachi and Sasuke reconciled was also a long one, and it shall be told in its time later. The point is, with Itachi's help, Sasuke easily pushed down Haruno's reign in Leon, and therefore it ended while Sakura was still married to Sasuke.

It was also around that time that Sakura realized that she was pregnant. She was clueless with everything then, but she happily skipped over to where her father worked, and found Sasuke sitting behind the desk that belonged to her father, with a divorce document placed on top, and a crystal pen lying beside it.

She begged him, cried in front of him, asking him to listen, but his response was, "Pregnant? I've only touched you once and you dare claim you're pregnant? Perhaps I haven't made it clear before, but I hate those who play games with me and treats me like a fool, Haruno. Leave, before I'm tempted to kill you."

Sakura stared into his eyes, and realized there was nothing there. She stood up and laughed so hard tears almost fell, "You got me, I was lying. I thought you'd fall for it. I was wrong."

She signed the documents and walked out of there with nothing but the cloth on her back. All her accounts were frozen, she has no money, and she was not allowed to go back, because she was barred against going into her own house. She sold her accessories and bags she was wearing at the time for a few hundred dollars to go to the doctors and check on the fetus. The doctor told her it was healthy, and she should be happy.

She left smiling and weeping.

A little later, she found a job as a waitress, and a small room that cost three hundred dollars per month. Without a college degree, she couldn't even get a desk job. Life had been the hardest for her in those first few months, when she was tossed into this world of poverty and was forced to push her way through.

Then she met Hinata, who gave her everything she had at the time, and by that time Sakura was very close to her due date. She sold Hinata's gifts and received twelve hundred dollars. At the times of her labour, she did not have insurance or health care, and Hikari had difficulty coming out. The doctor advised her to take medication, and then begged her to go into surgery, but she bit her teeth and shook her head. She knew with the money in her pockets she could not possibly cover the surgery or the medications. After almost thirty six hours of painful labour, Hikari appeared in this world.

She used the rest of the money to get some shots for Hikari, and used all her savings to ensure Hikari is provided for, but a couple of years later, his seizure and diagnosed autism hit her like a lightning bolt to her forehead. She was just barely covering her basic living costs when Hikari's prescription costs came crashing down on her, almost squeezing the air out of her lungs.

There was several things in this world that taught her how to face life, as if reality hit her head. Hikari's disease was one of them, and she almost believed that Hikari shouldn't have been born after all. But that thought dissipated when Hikari climbed into her arms and wrapped his around her neck and said in a tender voice, "Mommy, mommy, mommy..."

He came at the worst possible time, but he was best gift she could ever receive.

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TBC

A/N: Good news, my dears. At the rate which I'm frantically writing right now, this story will continue to update weekly around 3 or 4 mouths. No danger of sudden stop or hiatus there :)

But bad news: yes I am sorry I didn't exactly get into the details of how they would react to each other when they meet. It will be in the next chapter. Thank you very much.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: The first part of this chapter was taken from a song. It's not well known, but it basically gave me the inspiration to write this story. Please listen to it while reading this chapter, or this story, for that fact. It's heartbreaking.  
Again I need to remind readers. This story will be fifty SasuSaku, and fifty various other characters, back story, and sub plots.

Chapter 7

I.

On Sunday I loved you  
On Monday you left me  
Somethings were meant to be  
Our love wasn't one of them

-Winterplay

II.

"My dear sister-in-law." Sasuke said with a slight curve of his lips, "Please, take Erika away and leave us be."

Chiro coughed and said, "Um..."

"Now." Sasuke glared at her.

Chiro quickly dragged Erika's little hands and said to Sakura, "good luck", before running out of the doors and closing it carefully behind them. She then pulled out her cellphone and called her husband as fast as she could.

Meanwhile, inside the room, Sakura was slighting crouching in pain. She has never imagined that the reappearance of Uchiha Sasuke could still affect her this much. Her mind was spinning around and around when Sasuke spoke to her, "Well?"

His first impression of her was that he never realized how thin she was. She must be well under the nutrition line. Her face looked almost sharp instead of round and filled with joy. Her eyes are so bright it almost made him cringe.

Sakura found a chair and sat down on it. She breathed in and out, trying to regain her conscious.

Sasuke then looked at his son, and said cruelly, "Autism, huh?"

Sakura forced herself not to wail, not to make a sound. It would be an embarrassment. She must force herself to be competent, she must force herself to carry on this weight, she must force herself to face him, for she owe it to Hikari to do so.

"What do you want?" Sakura's voice was weak and soft, and compared to Sasuke's, it's a joke.

Sasuke simply raised an eyebrow, "If it wasn't for Naruto, I almost forgot you existed."

Sakura looked away, painfully aware of how he has matured into a more ruthless and cruel being.

As if time has stopped, she watched in horror as Sasuke took out a cheque book, and pulled out a pen in his hands. "Would a half a million do?"

He didn't even wait for her response as he scribbled a cheque under her name for five hundred thousand dollars. The cheque was thrown on her face as he turned around, because he has the urge to grab onto her thin neck and choke the air out of her right now.

The room was in silent for almost five minutes, until Sakura stood up and picked up the cheque, "It will do just fine. Thank you."

Sasuke admit he was completely surprised by what Sakura just said, and he turned around to stare at her in disbelief, but Sakura smoothed out her hair and her cloth, then tucked the cheque into her pockets, and said, "I want to say goodbye to him-"

Suddenly her arm was grabbed by Sasuke, and he pinned her to the wall as he grasped onto her neck, and his eyes narrowing at her, "You know I hate being played. If you're doing any tricks behind my back..."

Sakura struggled against him, and in doing so it woke Hikari up.

"Mommy?" He opened his eyes and stared at her. Sasuke let go of Sakura, which left Sakura dry coughed for a couple minutes.

This was not a good first impression in front of his son. But he did not care at the moment because he haven't develop any emotional attachment to him. In fact he felt completely detached from Hikari, if it wasn't for the remarkable resemblance, he felt that he might need to do a blood test.

"Hikari." Sakura rushed to her son and smoothed over his messy black hair, "Mommy has to leave. You'll live with your father from now on."

To Sasuke's annoyance, Hikari had the audacity to ask, "What father?"

"Him." Sakura pointed to the Sasuke. "He's your father."

Hikari burst into tears, "Mommy, are you leaving me? I swear I'll be good-"

Throughout all these crying, Naruto bursted into the door, and behind him was the other Uchiha family. Naruto stood to stare at them, and he heard Hikari's crying, "Mommy, don't abandon me, please, I don't want to leave you. I swear I'll eat as little as possible, I swear I will talk and play and make more friends, I don't want to leave, please... please..."

Naruto yelled in outrage, "You're taking him away from her?"

Sasuke shrugged, "She sold him to me, fifty hundred thousand."

"You son of a bitch!" Both Chiro and Naruto yelled at the same time, and Naruto went to grab on his collar in an attempt to punch him, but Sasuke dodged that and in turn threw him against the wall.

Sakura quickly stood up and said, "Naruto, that's enough. Please-"

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto almost screamed, "How could you? How could you do this?"

Sakura looked away.

"Did all these six years meant nothing?" Naruto was getting more and more agitated, "Why are you doing this? Why are you trying to sell him-is it money? Do you need money? Sakura-chan-"

Sakura cracked as she screamed back, "There's nothing either of us can do, Naruto! If Hikari stays with me, I can't even afford his prescriptions and tuition! We go hungry almost all the time, and his illness will get worse and worse! If you come to our rescue, I'm sure the Uchihas," she gestures towards Itachi and Sasuke, "will tear us apart, and it won't matter if you have been working with him for so many years, he will destroy you with a snap of his fingers, and I would have to hand him over even then-it's not a matter of choice, it's a dead end, it's a dead end!"

"I don't care. I can work somewhere else, Sakura-chan, you can't let this happen to you-" Naruto's voice lowered considerably, but Sakura silenced him by standing up and spoke in a clear and determined voice while Hikari sobbed weakly.

"Naruto, if Hikari leaves, he can go to school. He can go to the best academy possible, he can have caviars and fois gras every day, and he has a possibly of being cured. He will have great expectations and he will achieve great things-"

Naruto attempted speak, but was silenced by Sakura's next sentence.

"Please, Naruto get out of my son's way."

She then held her head high and limping towards the door, ignoring Hikari's desperate whimper and pleading, "Mommy, mommy..."

When she passed Chiro, she stared into her eyes and said, "Please, take care of..."

Chiro nodded, and Sakura walked out of the room, down the hallway, and then she was gone.

The room was filled with Hikari's sobs, and Erika's sobs too. Chiro turned to her and asked while her own eyes were brimming with tears, "Why are you crying?"

"I don't know." Erika said, "I couldn't stop."

III.

"Are you sure you wanna do this?" Ino asked, "Where I work, it's not exactly safe for little girls."

Hinata raised an eyebrow, "I'm almost twenty-one, for your information."

The two girls have been living together for almost a week now, and Hinata felt bad freeloading on Ino all the time. She tried to contribute a little, but without a job she really can't do anything to help. Finally she has decided that she should try to help by checking out where Ino worked. Ino apparently works as a cleaning lady in the "Lair" at night. Hinata thought whatever Ino does she could do too, since she should learn to stay independent by now.

"What are you majoring in anyways?" Ino took note of Hinata's overwhelming sense of academia almost the moment she met her.

"Well, business, mostly." Hinata said, "and I graduated."

"Whoa." Ino stared, "twenty-one and graduated?"

"Yes." Hinata lowered her head, "It's what being couped up at home do to you. What about you?"

"I never finished college." Ino replied, "I dropped out."

"Yes, but when you were there, what did you major in?" Once Hinata became familiar with someone, she became bold and more persistent.

"Journalism." Ino said, her eyes blinking a few times before she packed her bags and said, "Alright, it's time to go."

"Jorunalism, huh." Hinata nodded as if she knew what it's about, "I think it's cool."

Ino laughed, "You're a poor little rich girl, you think everything is cool."

"That's true..." Hinata sighed, "I'm sure glad that my family didn't find me yet. Thank god I dyed my hair black, and the contacts is less annoying once you get used to it."

The blond girl replied, "Well, your previous look is kind of distinguished. Don't get me wrong, but when I first looked at you, I was freaked out for a sec-but then, you opened your mouth."

"What happens when I open my mouth?" Hinata asked.

Ino rolled her eyes and opened the door, "Come on, princess, it's almost eight, the night live in this city has just begun. Now, do you remember my phone number?"

"Yes."

"Did you put it on speed dial?"

"Yes."

"What's our safe word?"

"Porcupines."

"Good. Let's roll."

IV.

Itachi was not having a good week. He has four guests in his house at the moment. One is his baby brother, god forbid. Itachi is lenient towards his brother, but for the love of god, there comes a point where one must disciplines their younger siblings, but it became harder when Sasuke is in his late twenties.

The next guest would be his nephew-oh god, his nephew.

How much tears could a little boy possibly contain!

It seemed like Hikari was made from water. He cries and cries all day, and when he gets tired he sleeps. He rarely eats and he screams his mother's name all the time, which isn't exactly the sound of Gospel in this house.

Now these two guests are enough if they were alone, but those two had to drag Itachi's wife and kids into their equation. His wife has been ignoring him for a full week. She does not dare to kick him out of the bedroom, so she made it very clear there will be no physical interaction. It's not hard, because she sleeps with Hikari and Erika most of the time. Erika follows Hikari around all the time, and before her mouth was filled with "Daddy this, Daddy that", now it has turned into, "Daddy, Hikari is not happy, Daddy, Hikari is crying again," or, "Daddy, make Sasuke-ojiisan go away, because he's a bad man."

Then there's the third guest, which is a yellow haired, loud and annoying idiot. He mostly just stays with Hikari, but he's doing a good job reminding everyone in this house that this child was stolen from his mother.

The fourth guest is the most quiet and less bothersome of them all, Neji. But his request is also the most annoying-because Itachi cannot refuse it. The Hyuuga is extremely powerful in York, and the Uchiha family estates mostly settled in York. Now their heir is missing, and plus the fact they are distantly related... which just made everything into a mess.

The reason why Sasuke did not go back to York was because of Hikari. Chiro already was extremely mad at Itachi for doing nothing in taking that poor child away from Sakura, she'll blow the roof off when Sasuke will forcefully take Hikari away to York.

"He has never taken care of children, and especially one that doesn't like to socialize!" Chiro argued, "I swear, the only person that's even a bit feminine over there is Karin, and if Sasuke leaves the child with Karin, we're over, Itachi."

Despite everything, Itachi is still the head in this house. When Sasuke stormed in to Itachi's study with a frown on his face and said, "Itachi, I need to take him away. This is ridiculous-he's my son."

"You can't. And you know why." Itachi for once wasn't smiling. He leaned back on his chair and said, "You need to grow up, Sasuke."

"I need to grow up?" Sasuke want to burst into flames, "You know what she did-"

"And I condemn her for it, why do you think she received no help from me these past six years? I watched my own nephew live in poverty." Itachi's voice was cold.

"You didn't tell me." Sasuke's voice was colder, "Why didn't you tell me?"

Itachi stood up and turned around to face the window. "Foolish little brother. You have more man power. If you wanted, you could've easily found her."

Sasuke was speechless.

After a couple of minutes, Sasuke took a step further and said, "I want to take him to York."

"No." Itachi's voice was eminent.

"You have no right, I'm his biological father." Sasuke bit out.

Itachi turned around and said very slowly, "I don't particularly care, what happens to that girl. I don't want to care about what happens to my nephew. But I care very much about what happens to my daughter and my wife. I know that if you take that boy away, everything will automatically crash upon me. I did not stop you from your revenge, I did not stop you from tearing apart one family after another, but I will drag you down to hell with me if you tear mine away-like you did last time."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes as the sun from the window was suddenly so bright, it almost enveloped Itachi's form. "Big brother."

Itachi sat down, leaning back in wearily and made a single syllable sound, "mhmm?"

"Remember what you said to me, the day she..."

"Yes."

Sasuke averted his gaze and said, "I'm sorry."

"It's in the past, Sasuke." Itachi waved his hand at him, then stood up and walking past his little brother, repeating what he said to him six years ago.

"You'll always be my brother."

V.

"He's not eating. We had to ask Shizune-san to inject glucose into his blood stream." Chiro said to Naruto.

"Did you try everything?"

"Of course I did. Do you think it'd be inappropriate to call Sakura and ask what he likes?"

"It would certainly be... not-appropriate."

Chiro sighed, her eyes strained against bright sunlight. The poor child in front of her was hooked to wires, and he was becoming skinner by the day. After a few days he stops moaning for mommy and starts staring into space, and it freaked the hell out of Chiro. Even though he is wrapped with the finest material and settled in one of the most elaborate room in the house, he took no notice of them at all.

"Naruto."

Itachi appeared at the door way, which cause Naruto to sigh and replied, "I'll be out, waiting for Erika to come back from school."

Chiro felt Itachi's presence coming into the room, and she stiffened when Itachi approached her. he sat behind, but not directly touching her.

Nobody in the room spoke for a long time. They sat in silence, watching the sleeping child breathing in and out, in and out. His breathes are calm and persistent, which is a good sigh. Chiro looked longingly at the child, and a moment later, she was sobbing.

Itachi tried to touch her, but she cringed, which left his hand stiffen in the air awkwardly.

She then begin, "I... I've always wanted a boy."

"I understand." Itachi's voice was gentle.

"I had one, too." Chiro said, her eyes brimming with tears once more.

'Yes..."

"Did you know, that autism is hereditary?" Her voice was so sorrowful, it was like the chime of bells in graveyards.

"I do." Itachi replied.

"He could've been him." Chiro whispered, "I could've been her-I was her, but the only difference was, I wasn't strong enough."

Every single syllable she utters, Itachi felt like she's peeling an old wound in his heart. It was a large wound and it didn't shrink in size with time. She's beginning to peel off his scabs layer by layer, piece by piece, until all that was left was the raw and bleeding flesh in front of her.

"You said it gets better with time." Chiro's voice stuttered out, "why did you leave him like this for six years? Is this the reason why you didn't bring him back? Obligation to your brother?"

"I was afraid you would act this way." Itachi sounded broken.

"You were afraid, you were afraid?" She acted like what he said was a huge joke, "You think you were relieved of this burden-this burden and obligation to your brother, when I had to suffer through-"

"There wasn't one minute gone by that I wished time could turn back." His voice cracked under her accusations, "I was dead-I was withering away, and I hoped, I prayed to god to relive me of this, of him, and of you. There is nothing I wished more other than crawling into that grave and beg for forgiveness-" His voice was slow and painful as he clenched tightly to his wooden chair handle so hard that he knuckles went white, "I wanted to claw apart my heart for you to see, see that it's only beating because of you. You became my heart, my pulse, my life-and it's eating me alive that still to this day, your sufferings are brought to the surface when this boy comes-"

"My sufferings, my pains!" Chiro grabbed onto the either side of her head, "I dreamt of him, I dreamt of him coming and accuse me of why I wasn't strong enough, why didn't I fight a bit longer." She was shaking as she got off from her chair and knelt down in front of Itachi, "I dreamt of him screaming and pleading, I dreamt of what he could've look like, and this boy is the personification of him. This boy reincarnated into him, and I offered my heart out, but he still won't eat, he still won't talk to me..." By this time she clutched on her chest and her hands are quivering, "I knelt down in front of him, begging him to forgive me, to let me rest in peace, but he refused to even look at me. Tell him to eat, tell him to have the will to live, please, please, I beg you..."

Itachi helped her up and embraced her in his arms, "I will find a way. I will make sure of it."

Chiro could not speak, as her crying was too violent. She turned around to bury her face against his chest, and her tears felt like coal, burning into his skin.

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TBC

A/N: Bit intense, isn't it.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Apologies to anyone who is reading these couple of chapters and want to burn me to a stake for spoiler's alert on "To Hold Eternity". I thought it might be cool that these two story intertwine, but I did not think this through.

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Chapter 8

I.

I wish you bluebird in the spring  
To give your heart a song to sing  
Then I kiss, but more than this  
I wish you love.

-Beach

II.

Ino and Hinata are in a dark setting, in the narrow hallways of the second floor of a club. This floor is composed of a series of private suites by hallways. The hallway has been furnished with red carpets and crystal chandeliers, but the lighting is completely dim and almost to the point of dark. Hinata was pushing a delicate silver cart with various snacks and liquors (mostly liquors) on top. Her hands were shaking from the excitement, or the fear, she couldn't tell, but she has calculated that even when her wages are close to a bare minimum, and a month's hard work can hardly afford a single pearl on her bracelet, she felt so proud at the moment.

Ino reached a door and looked at her list, "Ok, so this dude wants a bottle of pinot noir, two scotch, two whiskeys and they have to be Canadian, and a bottle of champagne too. Douche."

"Here." Hinata quickly paired the bottles up on to a small tray and handed it carefully to Ino.

"Ok, you must listen to me, Do not move, do not talk to anyone, don't come in, don't peek around. Stay here and... try to look ugly." Ino said to Hinata, who nodded fervently.

"Ok, here I do." Ino took a breath, then framed her face into a large and fake smile, then pushed open the door with a loud, "Hello boys, the drinks are here!"

And the scene was completely within her expectations. It's a bunch of middle aged men in suits with several of girls who works here dressed extremely provocatively and sitting on their laps. Some are dancing, some are busy enjoying the high. Ino sighed and wondered this must be as dirty as it can get. She cursed herself once more for bringing Hinata here, but Hinata has been bothering her so much that Ino just got frustrated and said, "Fine!", and Hinata held her to that.

She laid the liquor on the table and popped each one open for them, then she folded the tray across her chest and asked sweetly, "Is there anything else?"

They waved their hand, and Ino quickly escaped that place as soon as possible, while Hinata just leaned against the hallway, her eyes bright while they stared innocently at Ino.

She sighed, and walked on forward, "Come on, next one. Keep up."

Hinata nodded like a little bunny and hopped to it.

"This room only wants a bottle of Almaviva. Wow, so gay." Ino grabbed onto the tray and the bottle, then plastered a huge smile, then walked in.

The moment she came in, she froze in place as she stared at the man sitting on the couch, frowning. There are a total of five guys ranging from age twenty to thirty here, but the one in the middle is the most attractive and seemed to be the most powerful of them all here, but that is not the reason why Ino stopped what she's going and stayed still, it's because the stricking resemblance of this man sitting on the couch and the girl outside in the hallway. She could wager on her mother's life that they are definitely related, because they look almost the exact same, with same pale face, pupil-less eyes, and long hair.

"What are you staring at?" Another guy asked, and he has spiky brown hair with a mean growl. Ino jumped a little before quickly apologizing, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Here it is, Almaviva."

"What? I was sure I ordered beers too." The growling man frowned.

Neji silenced him, "I cancelled it. For what we have to do next, we need you all to be sober."

Ino physically shook as she opened up the bottle for them.

"Wi...Will that be all?" She stuttered. Pardon the girl, she has yet to learn to how to maintain her composure.

Neji narrowed his eyes at her, "Why are you shaking?"

Ino was so scared she almost ceased to breath. It was until another guy relieved her of her duties, he is chubby and crunching chips in his mouth, "she's scared, Neji, you're scaring her."

Ino nodded fervently to agree."

Neji sighed, waving his hand, "Leave us."

"Ye...yes, sir." Ino stumbled backward and almost crashing into the door, luckily she jumped up and regained her balance, she opened the sliver of the door just enough to fit her body through, and squeezed herself through, then shut it behind her.

Hinata looked at her curiously, she begin to speak, but Ino blurted, "Porcupine!"

Hinata's face went pale.

And then Ino made the gesture to run, Hinata walked a few steps down the hallways before the door opened behind them, and the chubby looking man poked his head out, "Um, waitress?"

Ino froze in her track, and she turned around to face him, "Yes, sir?"

The man scratched his head in embarrassment, "you see, we have five people, but only four glass..."

Ino's heart calmed down a little as she bowed deeply, "I am so sorry, I will go get another glass for your wine right away. I am so sorry..."

He quickly waved his hands, "Oh don't worry, please don't worry too much, we're not complaining."

Neji called out from the inside, "Choji! Get back in here!"

Ino peeked at the opening slit of the door in fright, her mind almost went into hyperactive mode as he saw the man with extremely handsome face but no pupils is staring straight at her. Ino darted her eyes towards Hinata in panic, and unfortunately, Neji caught that. He then called out, "the girl, come here."

Ino shuddered, she can't help it. She haven't had that much experience in acting, and she has always been the type of girl who is loud and speaks her mind without thinking twice. She may doesn't know much about acting, but she has been in this society to be able to tell that this man currently sitting in front of her is not an easy guy to deal with. The aura of "danger" is practically oozing out of his pores, and she doesn't think those are toys, underneath his leather jacket. She wobbled in front of Neji, and was scared half to death when he said, "look at me."

Ino's eyes were fixated on his jeans, but as soon as he said those words, she forced herself to move her head up to face him. Fortunately both of their phones rang within three seconds of each other. Neji unlocked his phone and decided to take it, therefore put it up to his ear and said, "speak."

Ino carefully checked her phone, and saw a text message from Hinata, "the place we met, see you there." She quickly replied, "if Im not there within 1 hr, go home without me and don't text me again." She deleted the entire conversation thread and Hinata's phone number, but not before memorizing it in her mind first.

She stuffed her phone back into her pockets and looked up at Neji, only to find him staring at her with interest. It seems that he has already finished talking, and now he's observing her.

Ino shuddered involuntarily.

This seemed to amuse him to no end as he said with intimidation, "look at me when you answer me this: have you seen this girl?" He then held up a photo of Hinata on his phone.

Ino fixated her gaze on the photo for a couple of seconds, then squints to see it clearly, and she shook her head, "No."

"No?" His voice raised an octave.

"No." Ino sounded very sure.

Neji then flicked his fingers, "Kiba, check her phone."

The man with pointy brown hair grinned at Ino and smiled, "Sorry, pretty girl." He then reached his hands into Ino's pockets and pulled out her phone. It all happened so fast, the next thing she knew was staring at the man in front of him scrolling through her messages, call history and contacts.

Ino bit her lips, but there was nothing she could do, and she has had enough of this throughout her life, so one more humiliation isn't going to kill her. She stood numbly as Kiba finished with checking over her phone, and then handed it back to her while shaking his head at Neji.

Neji smiled a little, but it wasn't a comforting smile at all. It is completely secretive and evil, because it says, I know something you don't, and I'm going to use you for it.

"Would that be all, sir?" The anger in Ino's chest helped her calm a bit as she stuffed her phone back in her pocket, and staring straight into his eyes, without fear, this time.

Neji begin to speak, and his tone of voice is sounding completely and utterly bored with life. He begin first with, "Miss, you entered through that door two times, and during these two times, I have only asked you three questions, and I know that two out of three times you were lying."

Ino had to physically pinch herself not to shake.

"One of the advantages of these eyes..." Neji stood up from his chair and faced her straight on, "Is that I can differentiate from a lie to a truth."

Ino's head begin to spin as she realized he's a head and a half taller than her, and that he's staring down at like like a hawk watching over a mouse.

The room is now in dead silence as Neji said coldly, "Now, I have been quite patient with you. I'm going to ask you one last time, have you, seen, this, girl?"

Ino stared into his eyes with as much courage as she could muster, and said with venom, "No."

Neji chuckled slightly, and he grasped onto Ino's collar and pulled her close to him. She whimpered as he whispered into her ear, "you better pray for a miracle."

Then he released her, and pointed to the door, "get out of my sight."

Ino scrambled for the door and ran out, but not before grabbing a bottle of white wine on the cart and stuffed it into her jacket.

In the room, Neji tossed Kiba a look, "make sure our men are following her."

"Alright." Kiba pulled out his cellphone while tossing a sarcastic remark out to him, "I didn't realize those creepy ass eyes of yours have super powers."

"She doesn't know that." Neji sat back and scrolled through his own cellphone, "I imagine my job just got a lot easier."

III.

Sakura didn't take a single cent from Sasuke.

She hung around the city for a long while when she walked out from the hospital, and her eyes are staring aimlessly into space, wondering if it's time that she find a brick wall and smash her head against it. She has considered suicide many times before, but she condemned herself because of her dear son. She many want to take the leap, but her son is an innocent human being, and he's the purest of them all. He is the epitome of goodness, and Sakura tried her very best to take care of him, and now that he's gone, she doesn't have a reason to continue to live on.

As she was wondering what could she possibly do with her life, she realized that her rent is due in a week, especially when her land lord came knocking on the door and asking if it's possible for her to pay the next month's rent in advance, because he's going away on vacation.

Sakura then decided, "I don't need a place to live anymore."

Her land lord looked at her funnily, but decided not to say anything as he said, "since you didn't give me a month's notice, I'm going to have to keep your deposit..."

Sakura waved her hands and sighed.

She packed her cloths up, and realized Hikari's new ear muffs are lying on the table, and his origami animals are stuffed inside the drawers, and a poorly written word "zoo" is scribbled on the drawer handle. Sakura then burst into tears as she cried for a long, long time after that.

For the next few days, she begin to clean up various things around the house, throwing away Hikari's possessions except for his ID, which she plan to mail to the Uchihas. When her room has been cleaned out, she found that her whole life are able to fit into a plastic garbage bag, and that's all there is to her.

She then exited that tiny little room, and then went to her day job, thinking of taking her pay and resign from her post.

Sakura really doesn't have a plan on how to continue on living her life. She know that in order to survive she need to keep on working and working. But now that she thought about it, her job is really tiring. She used to work without complaint in labour jobs because of Hikari, and now that he's gone, there really is no reason for her to take care of herself and work so hard. Her mind is in constant state of blur as she walked to her job, and told her boss that she's quitting. Her boss agreed, because he's paying her under the table.

Sakura wandered around the town for a few days, with no purpose and no aim in life. Her clothes are getting gray, and her hair haven't been washed properly. The bright fire within her eyes has dimmed down, and she was looking for an release. She wanted to die peacefully, but to her dismay she does not have the money to buy sleeping pills. She is scared of blood and blades, therefore slitting is out of question. She considered jumping into the river, and she did-but a good Samaritan saved her and even bought her a hot meal. She was so ashamed of telling the bystander that she was trying to die that she didn't do anything.

It's getting colder and colder as the holiday approaches. A couple weeks later after she has given Hikari away, she stood by the bulletin board, where it shows a huge logo of the Uchiha family.

Hatred has never filled her heart so deeply. She was overwhelmed with the idea of it she wanted to take a gun and shoot through the board itself. She wanted to suddenly get revenge and find a way to release herself of her duties. She wants to scream and tell the world of the injustice-

She wants to kill him.

IV.

Children are children after all, and after two weeks of begging, pleading and helping, Hikari finally ate something. Shizune let him off the hook from the machines and glucose injections, and he begin to start eating normal meals.

Chiro started to plan for him to go to Konoha Academy, just like Erika. He has no objections at all, because he looks numbly at the uniforms and backpacks he just received, he wanted to ask if his mommy will come and get him.

But he does it less often, because he could tell the more he asks, the sadder this lady gets. She told him she's his aunt, but he still haven't addressed her properly yet.

He does not like to interact with anyone, especially with his own father. He shivers at the sight of him and can not stand being in the room alone with him. If he happens to be, he starts screaming until someone drags him away. When he starts screaming he bothers his father to no end, and Hikari gets a small satisfaction from knowing that.

He dislikes his uncle very much. For one he looks very much like Sasuke, for another his Uncle looks as if he would achieve the same ends of what his aunt would like him to do, but through force and threats and intimidation. The reason he starts eating is because his uncle promised to let him see his mother one day, but of course there was no specification and Hikari was scared to ask.

He does not like Erika. Erika is too spoilt for him. Even though Erika tried very hard to be a good cousin, her young mind and actions often hurt Hikari deeply. He can see her surprise when he said he has never seen a game console, a pony, or even an airplane in real life. Things that came so easily for Erika seemed like staricases to heaven to Hikari. She does not mean it, but she hurts him more with every interaction she has with him.

As all this has been going on, his favorite person is Naruto, and as a result Naruto became a permanent guest in this house. He could see that every time Naruto plays with him his aunt watches from the far corner with longing. He wanted very much to comfort her, but he doesn't know how and would rather very much not to talk to her at all. He wants his mother, and that's enough for him-any other replacement isn't going be half as good.

He can hear them talking about him sometimes, the servants. Despite their attempt to hush, he can hear clearly their pity and their sorrowful looks fallen upon him. The nicer they are to him, the more passive aggressive he gets. He would protest by not eating food, or shoot glares at those who cared for him, and more than often he would stomp off and hide somewhere within the house so no one would find him. He often gets lost here, and he would much rather he stays lost forever.

One might wonder if it's it is in the nature of Uchihas, to forever hate each other. Their emotions are more aggressive, strong, and passionate than most people, and therefore they fall faster into hatred than most. If what Hikari is going through is a state of his development, then his uncle and father has both gone through the same thing-the urge to seriously hurt and murder the man who they shares the same last name with.

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TBC

A/N: Some might be disappointed with this chapter.. due to length, but oh well. Next chapter is going to be quite long.

The following few chapters after this one will deal mainly with flashbacks and focus on the Uchiha brothers, they will be in different POVs. Thank you.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: A warning to everyone reading this. The next few chapters we will be going down to the memory lane, with the rise of Uchiha clan. Sakura and Sasuke's drama came in a bit later. Everybody else's story that leads up to their story will have to come first. The following chapters will be told mostly in the POV of female characters.

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Chapter 9

I.

To see the world in a grain of sand  
And heaven in a wild flower

-Blake

II.

Two paths diverge-I took the road less travelled by, and that made all the difference.

Itachi has long known that, and because of the poverty he and his brother were in, it's difficult for a couple of kids to rise up in this city. But Itachi is different, and he knew it. He is more preceptive and intelligent than his peers by far, and he can easily out maneuver anyone he wishes to. He excels in physical training too, as he possesses extensive knowledge on combat and military weapons at an early age-all in all, he was practically made to thrive underground.

His brother has been hindering him back, he knew. But out of love and responsibility he can not abandon him. Yet the desire to achieve something great has been so overwhelming in that he knew he can provide the world for Sasuke-if he was set free to.

After Sasuke settled into the Leon Orphanage, Itachi took off.

The path of darkness was not a happy one, as Itachi joined the Akatsuki, the largest and most powerful criminal organization in York. He chose York because it's the capital of Flame, also because the Akatsuki was known to deal firearms and military equipments to various cities and nations. Itachi joined the organization and started at the bottom, and it until around two years later he rose to the top, being one of the nine leaders governing each district of the city.

Itachi is a very clever man. He has realized one day Akatsuki is going to fall, so he cannot build his roots based within it. He first got acquainted with the Hyuuga family, which he found out by surprise they were actually distantly related. The Hyuugas were ecstatic to have someone within the organization to be on their side, so they supported Itachi in any way they can. Itachi used this opportunity to travel far up north, to Celeste, then down to the south, to Sylvan-and over the course of the next five years, he has made friends and benefited powerful families in each major city. He was slowly rising up to be on the very top, and his credibility was even bigger than that of the leader of Akatsuki.

He slowly became the biggest weapon but the biggest prick in the the eye of Pein, and like all leaders, he watched Itachi very carefully on what he's about to do next. Of course Itachi wasn't stupid, so he lay low for a while, and stopped some of his transactions by instructing his henchmen to do them. While he took vacations and house visits.

That was when he met his future wife... Unfortunately at that time, his future wife lived in Pein's mansion.

Chiro is a girl who was simply one of the lucky few out of millions of others. With luck, however, also came the misfortune.

She was a simple girl who lived a middle class life in the suburbs, and when she graduated highschool, upon her parents' wishes, she ventured into the the world of the big city for education.

York, in Flames, is an incredibly organized, but dark, city. The government benefits both from the justice system as well as the underground. Many dirty transactions were done late at night, and there was little anyone could do about it. The Akatsuki were raising their powers and on their way to be the largest mafia there ever was, but then there came an ambush at the East bay, where someone within the organization informed the police on their trade.

The East was where York University's campus resides. Although the school yard was a couple miles away from the actual bay itself, Chiro happened to be one of the unlucky few who stumbled into the mess of police, drug lords, shipments of goods, and gunfire.

She was taking a stroll at the time, with the upcoming exams on her mind. Her mind was filled with simple things such as planning out her next week's meal, late night snacks for cramming, and begging the profs for deadline extensions, when in the dead of the night, a gunfire was shot, and she was scrambling into the woods and off the stone paths that lead to the bay.

The forest was dense and thick at this time, but luckily Chiro has hiked there before, so she vaguely remembered the way of the forest paths as she hid among the bushes, hoping the endless string of gunfire would cease and she would be free to go back.

After what seemed like ten minutes, when the gunfire had stopped and the police siren could be faintly heard from a distance, Chiro knew she had to get out. She nudged along the bushes as carefully as possible while maintaining a quick pace, because she really doesn't want to have it on record that she was during the middle of a gunfire. While she was moving along, someone tugged on her jeans, and in turn dragged her down into a small depth among the thick bushes. She attempted to scream, figuring that being on the record is better than being dead, but a hand clasped over her mouth as she tried to scream as loud as possible. It was only when she was suffocating when a male voice whispered, "if I let go of my hand, and you scream again, I will personally cut open your throat."

She nodded fervently, and when he let go, she coughed as silently as possible, trying to contain all her coughs in small and insignificant voices. Needless to say, Chiro was an honest kid back then.

Under the dim moon light, she saw her abductor who tried to suffocate her. He has piercings all over his face, and his hair is in a golden light orange. He was wearing a black cloak that is definitely made out of expensive clothe, as it practically reflected light even at such dim surroundings. His eyes are large and empty as he stared at her with nothing less than expectations for her obedience. Chiro shuddered when she looked at him, but she noticed him holding onto his abdomen, and immediately she whispered, "are you hurt?"

"A slight laceration." he waved his hand, then looked around and asked emotionlessly, "Take me away from this place and get me somewhere safe. If you attempt anything, I will be forced to kill you."

As if to demonstrate his skills, he pulled out a screw nail from his ear, and them tossed it to the tree behind her, and the nail pierced firmly into the trunk.

The poor girl shuddered as she nodded fervently, "I'll take you back to my dorm."

He raised an eyebrow, "Is that safe?"

"I lived alone for the week, my roommate went home for the holidays, she had early exams."

"I see." His voice was cold as he rose up from the bushes and grabbed onto one of her hands, then tied one of his wrist to hers with a strip of fabric. She stared in surprise as he faintly give a cold smile, "Precaution."

"Of course." Chiro had to kept herself from shivering in fear, "I understand. This way."

The siren is getting closer, so Chiro suggested they jog a little. The two are busy going through the bushes as suddenly there were sounds of people arguing ahead. He quickly pulled on Chiro's arm, and clasped a hand over her mouth as and held her in front of him as he had his back against a thick tree trunk. There were some arguing that got louder as a few people rambling through the woods, approaching them. They were arguing in hushed voices.

"Did he get away? Shit, we can't let him get away-"

"Don't you think I know that? We had such a good opportunity too-he can't have gone far, we need to look further."

"We should've brought night vision goggles, didn't I tell you we should've brought night vision goggles?"

"Ah just shuddap and search! If we let him slip away this time, it might be years we get another chance, not to mention our mole is dead for sure..."

Chiro could feel the force of his arm grasping on her waist as their voices came nearer and nearer. He quietly unbuttoned his cloak as he wrapped her frame within his large black jacket. He put his hood up as he rewrapped his arms in around her. Through her back, she could feel the sticky liquid slowly leaking out and pouring onto her lower back. It's more than just a laceration. It must be a very deep wound. She shivered a little, and tried to contain her fear as she shut her eyes tightly and prayed for them to get through this.

"If they discover us," his lips touch her ear as he said this, "they're going to open fire."

Chiro understood what he meant perfectly, she nodded slightly to demonstrate her understanding, and waited.

The voices got closer and closer as one of them said, "I don't think they're here. We can't see damn at this time."

"Should we secure the premises until dawn?" One of them asked, and then there's the sound of buzzing and radio static, "Sir?"

Suddenly Chiro realized, those men that are talking right now, they're the police. They're looking for a fugitive, and it's the man behind her. The man whose face was so close to her face that the nails pierced on his skin is touching against her hair. His lips are brushing against her earlobe as he tightened his arm around her, and for the first time, his breathing was not normal.

She made a decision right there, right then, that she would not scream. It was a hard decision to make, especially this one determined which path she's going down to.

The police are scrambling around the woods until one of them pointed his flashlight near the two of them, "That rustling, what's that?"

Her heart strung up to a string as she realized there indeed has been a shuffling in the bush approximately two meters away from them. It must be one of the wild animals, because she often saw wild cats and strays wandering around this area.

The officer begin to take a step towards their direction to find out exactly what's going on. At that moment, it seemed that the police were not gossiping anymore, as all attention were turned to the bush.

Chiro made a judgement call as she took a long breath in, and let out a, "Meow!"

Everything was quiet as a small mammal jumped out from the bushes, shone his bright eyes at the police flashlights and ran away as fast as he could.

The men sighed, and some even laughed, "Scared by a puss, didn't ya, Luke?"

It was five minutes after they're gone, when the man nudged Chiro, "let's get moving."

The two said nothing as Chiro led him back to her dorm through a secluded passage that most freshmen use to sneak back into the dorm after a night of getting drunk and got past the curfew. She led him into the bathroom and took out her first aid kit. He took off his cloak and his shirt, revealing a revolver and a personal medium sized knife. She carefully kept her eyes off the weapons as he untied their wrists while Chiro carefully stopped the bleeding and disinfected the wound. She carefully wrapped some bandages across his abdomen as she helped him to his feet, roughly wiping down any dirt or dried blood from his body. There was not a smooth surface, and the more she wiped the more scared she gets. Finally she soaked the blood stained towel in her sink as she helped him to her bed, "You sleep here."

He sat on her bed while looking around at the small dorm.

"Literature and arts, huh?"

Chiro nodded. She trembled as she dug out a fresh batch of sheets and quilts.

"Year?" His voice was quiet, but it sound particularly powerful, coming from him, in this small space.

"First." Chiro stuttered a little. She can't help it, and her voice betrayed her emotions as he raised an eyebrow and almost chuckled, "scared?"

"Terrified." She replied.

"Why did you help me?"

"Instinct." Chiro's clenched onto her guts, she felt like puking.

The man stared at the girl for a while, until she starts shivering, "I'm Pein." He finally drew out a his knife and and set it down below his pillow. "Precaution." He said,

"I understand." Chiro stuttered, then her eyes brightened a little, "May I sleep somewhere else?"

"No, it would look suspicious." Pein's voice was cold as he shot a nail towards the light switch to turn off the room light. "Get some sleep. It looks like you have an exam tomorrow." He gestured towards the schedual posted above her desk.

"Right." Chiro grabbed onto her text book, then bounced back to her roommate's bed and stared down at the book under the faint nightlight. She has a feeling she's not going to get any sleep tonight.

III.

Naturally Chiro did not do well on that exam. However, her life was about to take a huge turn as she realized she saved the leader of a powerful mafia that night. Her life turned upside down as she was invited into the huge mansion by men in suits as they request her to get in a luxurious limo.

She was greeted by a female in the mansion, Konan. She thanked her graciously for helping Pein, and asked if there's anything she'd like as compensation. Chiro shook her head, as she was obviously still overwhelmed by all this. Pein, however, walked in during the middle of their chat and waved his hand in annoyance, "Did you ask her to live here from now on. She's not going to be safe anywhere else."

The way he phrased it, it really did not sound like an request.

Chiro was too young and meek at the time to make decisions for herself or have the backbone to deny what he was offering. So without her even lift a finger, she was resigned from the dorm with all her belongings moved to a corner in the mansion, and she has servants waiting on her and butlers guarding her safety every step of the way.

She was really a simple girl to satisfy, as she felt life has treated her well, as she suddenly turned from a student near poverty to a girl living in mansions and going to classes in limos, and all her expenses paid-including her tuition.

Chiro's family was not particularly interested in her well-being, because she has so many siblings, usually its as soon as they graduate, they move out of the house. That wasn't a big issue, lying to her parents. She occasionally called back to tell them she's fine, and sometimes during the holidays she visits once or twice. Other than that they didn't contact much.

It's especially lonely, in this big mansion.

Despite the vastness, hardly anybody lived here. The only people she saw on a regular basis would be her maids, bodyguard, and chauffer. She sometimes asked where Pein was, but the answer was always, "He's busy, ma'am."

She rarely sees him, and knowing even if he's in the house, he most likely reside in his study and talk with his fellow henchmen. She occasionally sees Sasori and Diedera. The previous stared at her in coldness, and the latter flirts shamelessly with her.

So Chiro lived her life as quietly as possible, without any troubles for her "landlord", and several years passed like this-until her graduation.

She saw him far back within the crowd, along with Konan. She's holding flowers for her, and he's looking at her in a curious way, and at that moment she doubt that he still remembered she existed.

After her graduation, the three sat in the limo as Konan asked her as discreetly as possible what are her plans. Chiro thought about it before answering honestly that she's thinking about becoming a tutor, for kids. But she needs another certificate for that. So for now she wants to work as a secretary or in some sort of desk job.

Konan then asked if she wants to move out, and Chiro replied she doesn't mind much, especially since she has been living there for almost four years. Even though her servants frequently changed.

The Pein waved his hand and made the ruling statement, "Let her live here. Get her a job at the office."

Her life has been laid flat in front of her, and she was supposed to walk the way he has paved for her. There was no regret or remorse in her eyes, as she figured this was probably the best, since she has experienced poverty and pain, and her personal motto was: life in itself has no meaning if it meant to be full of suffering.

IV.

Her encounter with Itachi came at the most boring point in her life, where it could be described as a pond of still, dead, water. She was bored to the point of numbness. Her mind was filled with loneliness and pain, and it was Itachi who came into her life, and thrown a pebble into her pond, raising waves of ripples.

There was originally a celebration party. It was something like the tenth anniversary of the organization, and the party was held here, in the mansion.

There were often parties within the house, but Chiro never bothered to make an appearance. The sound proof system was done superbly, and she would often grab a few things and pack up for the attic whenever a party occurred. This time, however, Pein asked her to join them.

"You've joined Akatsuki now, it's time you appear out in the open." He said.

Chiro really did not want to. First of all, she had an vague idea of what Akatsuki did. That's why she cringed a little when she was assigned the job at their office. Even though their office wasn't an underground one, but it seemed everybody know what they did except for her, and they stared at her with mocking sympathy and pity. They treated her extra special, because she was the lucky girl who saved Pein's life-and Pein never forgets.

Her job at the office mostly consisted of filing files. There's endless things to print, to staple and to file. Usually she skipped over them without even reading them. She saw Pein more and more often, and when he gazed into her eyes, he sees endless knowledge and boredom. He applauded it, her lack of curiosity, or her will to stay dumb-whatever it was, it's saving him a lot of trouble.

A beautiful dress was chosen for her, with pairing jewelries and shoes. Her ordinary self was boosted up to a level of "acceptable" within a black tie event.

She really doesn't know how to behave in places like this, especially when the guests entering the houses are people she has never seen before-and riches seemed to be oozing off from their pores as they talked and conversed with eloquence. She went around the large living room to taste different type of cheese and wine-that's when she bumped into him.

Later, he would admit that he orchestrated their "accidental encounter", as he noticed her first.

But at that moment, she bumped into him because she wasn't looking at where she was going, holding wine and cheese at the same time. Her wine glass grazed over his suit as it fell onto the floor, splashing the two of them, and Chiro quickly jumped as she bit her lips in shame, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'll have someone clean this-"

She lifted her head, and she stopped speaking, because the man she bumped into was so ... extraordinary that she kept staring at him, and forgot the rest of her apology.

He tilted his head and narrowed his eyes lazily at her as he curved his lips slightly, words flowed from his lips as if they were honey sliding upon silk. "Arai-san?"

She forgot to answer him as she dropped her chunk of cheese skewered by tiny silver tooth picks. Her left hands went up slowly to touch his face, and she was unaware of her actions as her eyes stared at him unblinking. Her fingers touched his cheek as he tilts his head slightly so her fingers were in direct contact with his lips. He shifted his eyes away from her slowly as he closed them, then leaned forward ever so subtly as she felt her fingers grazed over his lips-he kissed her ring finger gently as her hand froze in the air.

He leaned away soon after, opening his eyes lazily to look at her.

Chiro's mind was smashed into bits as it reduced to a repeated paroxysms of "beautiful". He was incredibly beautiful that it was not a face that would normally appear within the realm of reality- he's bordering on a god-like appearance. His feature was extremely handsome, but with the expression of a king, an emperor, or a sultan. His looks could be compared to- if a large piece of clear crystal was being dropped onto the marble floor, where the moment when it falls into pieces-all pieces refracted light onto one point, and this point was the combination of all rays of light that came together to form an iridescent point-

He was so beautiful...beyond words.

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TBC

A/N: I saw someone that beautiful once, and that's what I was thinking at the time.

I worry people might criticize me for writing too much back story and not enough sasusaku at this moment. I've already explained how crucial the back story is. If anyone have any objections, leave reviews in which I could reply to, and I will write an heartfelt explanation on this is my story and I write whatever the fuck I want. I've changed the review setting for this reason too.

Due to my late update, I feel very sorry and will update another chapter tomorrow.

Sakura's POV next.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: We're continuing down the memory lane. Sakura was a cute little spoilt girl back then.  
The end of this chapter can be pretty graphic, you have all been warned.

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Chapter 10

I.

Life is only life forever more  
Together from wing to wing, oar to oar.

-Frost

II.

"Is Karin prettier?"

It was a fine and sunny day, when Sakura returned from Konoha Academy. She peeled off her uniform and dress as her maid picked up the pieces of her clothing from the ground and placed them in the hamper. Sakura's hair is growing out, as they almost reached the middle of her back. Her pale emerald eyes blinked into the mirror, and she pinched her face in disgust, "I know Karin has a better shaped face-if only I could sharpen mine. Do you think Daddy will allow me to go get a surgery?"

"I don't know, miss." The maid answered obediently, "Uzumaki-san may be pretty, but she lacks an innocence and youth, which you have. Also, her skin is more prone to acne."

Sakura nodded happily, "You're right. Although I wish I can be thinner. I tired dieting, but I think this is my threshold. You know? Like when we have thresholds for weights, I don't think I can get any thinner." She then looked down at her tummy and managed to pinch some fat from her waist, "I wonder how effective is lipo-suction."

"You're way too young, Haruno-san." The maid replied.

Sakura frowned as she looked into the mirror again, "My eyes and my forehead... I think when I'm of age, I'll go surgically fix my eyes, Make them wider, you know? And I heard there's eyelash implant..."

"Yes, but miss, they are fine they way they are."

"Ah, you don't understand." Sakura sighed as she looked on beyond her balcony for the arrival of Sasuke. He was supposed to be here twenty minutes ago, and she's getting fidgety from the waiting after rushing home just to see him. Her father was supposed to arrive with him, because tonight is a big night and they're all having a celebratory dinner together.

"Isn't Sasuke just... amazing?" Sakura blew out a breath and leaned her head against the railings, "I could just... stare at him all day."

"He is certainly handsome." The maid was careful.

"He is, isn't he." Sakura's eyes blinked a few times, "I don't think I've ever seen anyone of his caliber... He's just... He's just... so amazing."

Sakura saw him riding a horse and shoot once or twice during target practice at her back yard. Usually she sneaks around the house to get a better view, as her father forbids her from actually participating in any events that involves a gun, at least, until she's 18. He has never expected her to take over the family business, and he isn't about to, because he's planning to have her married off before he dies.

"If I may ask, miss," the maid brought out a jacket from her closet to cover her bare arms from the cold. "What exactly is amazing about Uchiha-san?"

"Everything." Sakura answered without hesitation. "His eyes, his cheekbones, his lips, his hair, his body..." She blushed at the last word, but then quickly recovered and put on her jacket, "I knew from the moment I met him, I'm going to marry him."

The moment she met him.

It was a few years ago, when Sakura was in her early teens. Sasuke was presented to her as a stoic and stubborn boy, and he's very proud. He refuse to speak more words than what is actually necessary, he rarely smiles, and he didn't display any weakness-all qualities that could make a teenage girl swoon with fan-girl infatuation, and Sakura fell into that web as soon as it was presented to her.

For a girl who has never displayed any sense of inferiority complex, she was lost. For the first time in her life, she felt as if she doesn't deserve him. He is an entity that is so attractive and wild it should not be contained and tamed by her alone, and she knows this. But once the seed sets in her mind, she wants nothing more than to see him, to attract him, to make him notice her, and she wants more than anything for him to love her and take care of her-

One might argue, that if Sasuke actually paid some attention to the girl at that moment she might get bored. But he didn't pay attention to her, for he had greater things in his mind to focus on, and that caused her great distress. Her goal was to make him notice her, but she failed miserably.  
And so this infatuation with him as turned into an obsession as time goes by. The less attention he gives her, the more she wants him. Combining that with her savior and part-time body guard, Sakura fell into her imagination and her conception of Sasuke faster than she could ever climb out. She shivers when he's near, and mourns in sorrow when he ignores her, and she begin to fall in love the idea of sorrow, of having something that could never be hers.

It ended, however, the notion of pleasure in sorrow, that day.

A limo pulled up to her house, and she waited in excitement as her father and Sasuke got out of the vehicle, along with Naruto, Juugo, and some other insignificant people that she doesn't keep a track of. Her attention focused on Sasuke, until a splash of red came into her view-Karin

Karin, Karin, Karin, Karin.

Sakura wanted to rip that head of red hair from her head. Her mind was overcame with jealousy and anger whenever she's near. She's one of Sasuke's dearest friends, she knows this because she did an extensive background check on him. wanting to fully grasp on his every habit and preference so she can please him as much as possible. And one of those preferences...was Karin.

Karin and Naruto are related, but they look nothing alike, nor do their personality align in the slightest. Naruto is nice to everybody and often gets into trouble for being too kind hearted. He's slowly becoming more and more cunning and being a better judge of character, whereas Karin - Sakura would argue - is evil to the core.

To be fair, Karin isn't really evil. She's just very... clever.

At that age, she already possessed something Sakura haven't have. Other than beauty, she understood the ways of the world and the rules of survival better than most people. In other words, society has flexed her back and forth into a girl that can bend in any way she desires, and she use this strategy to pleases those who are in a higher position than she is at the moment-which are practically everybody.

Sakura does not know this, however, as she only wanted to please Sasuke, but she doesn't exactly know how. And every time she sees Karin, her mind snaps a little. For a girl who has never known self control, enduring Karin to sit at the same dinner table as her was already the extent of her patience for her.

Because of her, she did not smile even once during dinner. Her father asked her affectionately what's wrong, and she ignored him with the silent treatment. He waved it off and figured it must be something related to school. As always, he adds, "if there's anyone who's bullying you in that Academy, tell me."

Sakura pushed away her plate and stood up, she kissed her father's cheek and said, "I feel tired, I'm going to rest for a bit."

Everybody on the table knew of what's going on. Everybody except Sato Haruno-oh, and maybe Naruto.

Sasuke frowned in slight discontentment, but it disappeared as soon it came. He raised his glass towards her adopted guardian and thanked him for all these years... the usual.

He's not blind nor is he stupid. Since it was made so obvious, he knew that this girl has an unhealthy obsession with him. He has been trying very hard not to encouraging her, but she doesn't seem to be able to give up. He dread the day when he actually has to sit her down and tell her clearly that he isn't interested. It's impractical, as his goal is to please her father, not have her so miserable the blame ultimately falls on him. He isn't scared of doing it, but he scorns upon these things as he has better things to take care of, and comforting a little girl's feeling isn't one of them.

This was one of the reason why Sakura isn't successful with Sasuke-she wasn't mature enough.

Her heart was still young and she was so protected all her life-like a soft flower that has been living inside a green house for a long time, the outside rain and thunders would destroy her. She ultimately developed an automatic sense of superiority towards anyone who isn't Sasuke, and she displayed it. Sasuke, when he first laid his eyes upon her, disliked her because of her haughtiness to others. Despite the fact she didn't mean it, what she has discarded at the dinner table was able to feed a family of four for an entire day. Her clothing, shoes, and jewelries were so extravagant that it's hard for everyone not to feel uncomfortable. She faintly sensed ooks of jealousy or envy from everyone, and it encouraged her. She was not sensitive enough to act humble in front of everyone, because all her life she has known the riches-and nothing else.

After dinner, Sasuke took a stroll around the garden, while Karin followed. Sakura happened to saw it and decided to follow them as discreetly as possible, and this is the rare one time that she succeeded without being noticed.

Something has been bother Sasuke that day, Karin could tell.

He walked ahead while she carefully maintained a safe distance, not too close nor too far. She give him enough space for him not to feel suffocated while maintaining in a position of when he reaches for her, he will grasp onto her. This was true in most of their interactions.

Sasuke walked around aimlessly for a while, then he turned to face Karin with a straight face, "I found my brother, Karin."

Both Karin, who was facing him, and Sakura, who was hiding behind the fake waterfall were stunned for the next few seconds. It was Karin who interrupted the silence and asked tentatively, "...How?"

Sasuke answered with a sigh, "I did not think he was still alive. He... he actually contacted me."

"Really." Karin's voice was a bit squeaky for some reason. While Sakura nudged against the large boulder, with millions of question popped into her mind. She naively thought Sasuke must be in shock and pain, and she wanted nothing else than to cuddle her sad little Sasuke-kun, until he relieves all of his feelings and falls asleep in her arms.

That was the extent of her fantasy at the time.

Karin, however, was more discreet. She asked questions slowly and carefully not to anger him or make him impatient. After a few minutes of conversation, Sakura deduced that Sasuke has a brother that is a few years his senior, and recently came in contacts with him. Exactly where does he reside, she doesn't know, or his occupation, or the reason why he appeared in Sasuke's life again after almost a decade.

At last, Karin asked, "What...what do you plan to do?"

Sasuke didn't answer at first, as he stared up at the evening sky. The resurfacing of Itachi shocked him to the core. He thought he would never see this brother again, but his brother happened to appear in his apartment yesterday, acting as if he has belonged there his entire life. At first Sasuke scorned, laughed, and shamed him for leaving, and Itachi took the abuse with silence and a mocking smile.

After Sasuke's tantrum, Itachi chuckled and asked, "Foolish little brother, you still do not understand."

To which Sasuke completely ignored and glared at him a bit more until he decided to charge straight at him, and the living room turned into a complete tantrum as one tried to kill the other, and the other tried to dodge without injuring the previous. Needless to say, though, Itachi was at a level that is superior to Sasuke. He let him have his fun, but then stopped him with a swift grab on the wrist and flung him across the room. Sasuke's body hit against the wall as he collapsed on the furniture. Itachi straightened up and tapped off the dusts on his coat as he walked towards him, "Little brother."

Sasuke stared at him with hatred and annoyance.

"If you need something-anything. Be if power, money, or revenge-" Itachi leaned down to smooth out his hair, and patted his head a couple of times before leaving a number, "Be good. I'm glad you turned out... decent."

"What made you think you have the power to grant me my wishes?" Sasuke yelled after him as he made his way towards the door.

Itachi only said without turning back, "Try me."

At that time, though, Sasuke didn't want anything... yet.

III.

A few month later, however.

Sakura felt as if her heart has exploded. She wept within her sheets for hours, until the maid didn't know what to do and called her father. Sato Haruno appeared beside her bed and tried to talk to her. But He doesn't know what to do-he has never had any conversation similar to this with his daughter, and up until a couple of weeks ago, he doesn't even know that Sakura wanted Sasuke.

He sighed unconsciously, and the sound itself made Sakura peek out from her covers.

"Princess." He begin, "Sakura, you... do you really like that boy that much?"

Sakura's tears kept on flowing as she nodded weakly.

"Even if he..."

She nodded even more fervently, "I don't care, I don't care. I don't care if he is the king, I don't care if he lived on the streets. I don't care if he loved anybody else in the world but me, I don't care if he is gay, if he is poor, or if he's rich, or if he's old or young-the moment I see him, my mind goes crazy with adoration..."

It was probably the most sincere and selfish phrase she has ever said in her entire life.

But her words were the ruling statement of the law itself as her father generously given her what she wanted-Uchiha Sasuke, in the flesh. He was already tortured and beaten, and with a few days of intensive care, he was able to at least walk. And they grasped this precious moments when he's too weak to run away or make decisions on his own, and forced him down the alter.

Both literally and figuratively speaking. They forced him to sign the legal papers and went through a series of ceremonies, all while being carefully monitored and inspected to make sure he doesn't escape. Going a step further, they even ensured his movements are monitored, and went through security checks several times a day. They took away anything shape and could potentially used as a weapon away from him, and abolishing his rights to even end his own life.

This was undoubtly a massive blow to Sasuke's ego. It's beyond what he has the capacity to do. When he found out that they took away all his rights just to please this girl who he suspect still has her milk teeth in, he want to tore out her heart from her body and see if it's black.

Uchiha Sasuke was not known for his sensitivity. He did not bother to place himself in Sakura's shoe and imagine what she was feeling, instead he developed an automatic hatred for her, something that is stronger than anything he has ever experienced, including his brother. However, Sakura has yet to push him over the limit. She did, however, when she forced herself upon him.

She wanted him to love her so much it's maddening. Her mind was filled with thoughts of him and his possible betrayal. She want to make sure that he's loyal to her, it's her only wish. She was selfish enough to ask of him, if he isn't willing to touch her, he should not touch anyone else at all.

He scoffed at her, because he felt disgusted by her anyways. His mind, however, was distracted from his young wife as it diverged into work, various mission, and the safety of Karin.

Karin has came into contact with him again after the fail of their elopement. He told her to run away, and she did, successfully. She came back to Leon, however, with some slight help coming from Itachi. She heard of Sasuke's engagement and she was devastated. Sasuke naturally does not like it either. He has promised to wed Karin a long time ago, not to mention he actually has a sense of attachment with Karin. Most of all, Karin is understanding, clever, and unspoilt. He could see he live the rest of his life with Karin, but not Sakura. He visualised spending more than a week with Sakura before he goes insane and tries to kill her.

Everybody was trying to impress Sakura at the time, including her father's henchmen. And when Sasuke arranged a meeting with Karin, the news got to Sakura's ears and she was furious. She wanted to give the order to kill that bitch, but somewhere at the back of her mind, her sense reminded her that killing Karin would only make Sasuke hate her more. By this logic, it might be better not to touch her.

But she couldn't wait anymore. Sasuke, as intelligent and capable as he is, he will find some way to over through Sato Haruno, and he will divorce her. Even though Sakura does not believe that her own father would be so easily overthrown, the possibility was still there, especially after some rumours going around about Sasuke networking some of the significant people in York.

On one of the rarer nights that Sasuke came back to their new home, Sakura drugged him.

She tied him to the four poster bed, and forced aphrodisiac into him.

He was her obsession, he was her heart, he was her soul. Sakura has long established that, she loves him so much that her heart overflows with adoration of him. She ran her hand across his body and discovered it was completely perfect-there isn't an ounce of fat, nor is it excessive muscular. His skin tone was lightly tanned to a healthy color, yet still paler than normal guys. Every bits and pieces of him was perfect as she lay her head on his stomach, he's so warm that it melted her mind.

Sakura sighed as she reached to his head while bending down to touch her lips with his. She doesn't exactly know how to kiss, as novels and mangas taught her to stick her tongue in, but she's excited and terrified at the same time, so she ran her lips across his to taste him while wrapping her fingers within his soft hair. Her body was getting hotter as she wrapped her legs around his torso, rubbing against him unconsciously to relieve herself. She sucked on his lips for a while before he woke up, painful and hard.

It was the only kiss they shared.

Her first time came to an end as she sat across his lap. He cursed at her, he yelled at her, and he threatened her, and Sakura doesn't even have the heart to duct tape his mouth shut, for she loved to hear his voice, even when what came out was vile insults directed at her.

There was no pleasure for neither of them, as Sakura was in so much pain she almost fainted, and Sasuke's humiliation multiplied.

There was only once, as after his release inside her, she bit her lips because she doesn't want to cry in front of him. He, on the other hand, struggled and freed himself. He ran away from that place as fast as he could, for he was disgusted at Sakura and her actions, yet he felt a slight guilt for her virginity. It was soon overwhelmed with his justification of her evil and selfish character. He judged her to be someone he will always hate, and eventually, if given the chance, he would torture her until there was no will in her left.

IV.

He made his way back to where he originally lived, and tried to find that piece of paper Itachi scribbled. After almost tearing down the place, he found the digits under his couch, and with a trembling finger, he dialed the number.

Itachi picked up his phone with a monotone voice, "Uchiha."

"I want-" Sasuke begin. But his voice cracked and he couldn't continue.

Itachi waited patiently for his brother to finish.

"I want the Harunos to fall. I want to destroy every bit of their order, and push them into chaos. I want to sit at the position where Haruno Sato is currently sitting, and I want it done as fast as possible."

"Of course." Itachi's answer was brief and without question, "I'll be in touch."

Meanwhile, the poor pink haired girl lay across the mess of a bed, covered in sheets and blood across her groin. She cried for a long, long time, mourning over her lost love, mourning over her weak and fluttering heart, and her faked marriage.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

TBC

A/N: A bit sad, isn't it..  
Next chapter is in Chiro's POV.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

I.

To Hold Infinity within the palm of your hands  
And Eternity in an hour.

-Blake

II.

Chiro will never be able to understand the psyche of Itachi. It's too deep, too dark and too far for her to reach. She has no idea how could anyone evolve into an enigma of a man that the Uchiha Itachi is right now. There are several qualities she observed of him when she first met him, and several other qualities she found after about a couple months of interaction with him-and those qualities are not what a normal man should possess, or couldn't have possessed at such a young age. She did a Google search of him, and he's only in his twenties, which made everything far more puzzling.

For example, he is perfect.

Not only his face, his features were perfect enough-so perfect that it required several encounters to even get used to. She has seen some people stutter or stare at him the first time they meet him. She was present when an elder military official with white hair shook his hand, and the man stared at his face with a passive coldness until he said, "I'm Hatake Sakumo, you must be Uchiha Itachi."

"I am." Itachi's smile was ever present, "It's nice to finally meet you. I talked with your son the last time I visited Celeste."

"I'm aware." He remarked, "My son wasn't exaggerating. You are certainly... symmetrical."

"Thank you." Itachi took it as a compliment as he dove in a political discussion immediately, without taking the comment to heart.

Chiro stood behind them, because Itachi was originally talking to her, but was interrupted by Hatake. They weren't really "talking", as much as she was staring at him and answering with moans or single syllable sounds every time he asked her something with polite interest.

Then she noticed that even his behaviour is perfect.

Pein did not specify Chiro to learn high etiquette, so she went along life with basic manners, but she remembered some rules that were put in place especially at parties. For example, how many fingers should hold onto a wine glass, where to place one's hands, where to stand during a conversation involving different number of people... She was sure she was making a fool of herself, but she discovered that Itachi is perfect at everything he does. Every movement he makes or every direction he shifts into are for a reason. He does not do anything out of the ordinary or without meaning, just as he speak every word and pronounce every single syllable to conversation partners, feeding them the exact right amount of information, yet withholding the exact right amount to keep them interested. Although he doesn't need help in that department, people turn to him automatically because of his face and aura.

He has an aura that of a royalty.

He is well liked, gentle, and polite. Perhaps emphasise on the last one-politeness. His attitude towards everyone in this party is pure politeness, within the bounds of proper etiquette, being interested yet not invading their privacy at the same time. His ability to make his audience comfortable, displaying the exact right amount of wit to make people look at him with awe or surprise, but not consider him to be annoyingly clever. It was then that Chiro deduced that she will always see him thrive in a social environment, but she will never see him sitting around a couch drinking beer and watching sports.

Her attraction to him and dislike of him came right after one another. She, too, was mesmerized by his godly face and superb social abilities, but after spending an hour observing him in this party, she found that he is the last person she would ever come close to.

Last time she came close to someone who emits nearly as much pressure on her as he does to her now, she ended up living in a mansion-like prison for four years with a curfew and restriction of freedom. Pein is someone who ruled by fear, and his intimidating tactics worked well on Chiro. She does not dare to defy him thus she put on a meek and uncaring face when she's in his presence, trying to squish as much of her fear to the pit of her stomach as she could. Knowing that's the only way that he wouldn't hurt her. She has never been hurt by him, and she doesn't care to find out.

Itachi, he's so dark that she can't even see who he is anymore.

That first encountered ended with him taking away for phone number after the party, but she knew right then that Itachi is nothing but a wonderfully woven dream for her. He is too far advanced for her simple brain to comprehend. She has no sense of security with him, because she has no idea what he is thinking about almost all the time. She is fairly possessive of what belongs to her, and she has a feeling that he won't ever belong to her.

But the attraction was almost immediate. She has no idea how he felt, but she wanted him more than anything in the world.

At first it was like a scratch, then a slight itch that requires to be soothed by thinking about him more and more, and eventually it grew like wild weeds. She kept on thinking about him even thought she knew there's an unlikely chance that she will ever see him again. Her mind was filled with images of him, and it eventually became something that she can't have but want so badly that she's willing to trade anything for another look. She checked her phone constantly for his message, but finding none. At last she couldn't take it anymore. She wants to see him-perhaps to give herself a reason to hate him, to confess to him and then see the rejection in her own eyes she will finally have peace.

So during a lunch hour at the office, she encountered Diedara coming out of Pein's office after giving a report. So she cornered him in the elevator. At first Diedara was pleasantly surprised as he tried to make a move on her, but then Chiro immediately shook her head and said, "I... I actually wanted a favor."

"A favor?" Diedara asked while smoothing out his platinum blond hair, "anything."

"I actually just want to ask if you have Uchiha Itachi's number." Chiro shivered a little, for fearing of Diedara laughing at her.

And yes he did, laughing at her. He burst into an outright laughter that made Chiro felt so annoyed that she figured she should just leave him alone in the elevator right now. Unfortunately that wasn't an option as Diedara grabbed onto her arm and said, "give me your phone, I'll put it in."

"Thanks." Chiro was relieved. But frowned as he continued to chuckle, "What's so funny?"

"If I have a nickel every time." Diedara winked at her, "but promise me, come to me whenever you feel lonely, okay, baby?"

Chiro glared and said, "I actually want to ask him something. Not just... whatever filth you're thinking."

"Really, what might that be?" He raised an eyebrow.

Chiro pondered for a moment, then said, "I don't have to justify myself to you."

Diedara snickered, "He's free after six. Although I can't say for sure around this time, he flies everywhere."

She asked exasperatedly, "What are you doing? Why are you laughing?"

"I can't wait until you crash and burn." Diedara said as he exited, "It's going to be funny this time, because you're so close to Pein."

She doesn't know if that last statement was true. Pein certainly trusts her immensely, having her handling documents and live in the house etc, however, she doesn't know if that was just a facade or if he really does see no threat in her.

But Diedara's previous comments made her chicken out. She went home that night and sat on her bed staring at that number until she could memorize it in her mind. She cursed herself for going to sleep that day without actually calling it. But what would she say when he pick up, if he does at all? Would she identify herself? Even if she did, would he even remember? She knew that he know of her, but their conversation never went past beyond, "are you working in Akatsuki now?" And, "The weather is fine today. Perhaps it will rain tomorrow."

Eventually she woke up in the middle of the night thinking about him, and she felt it was not justified that she should be this miserable because of him, as he has done nothing rather than making a sharp impression on her mind, and then left her life a if he has never entered it.

Chiro has a natural appreciation for aesthetic beauty, having majoring in literature and arts, but she also has a natural self insecurity. For she kept around pretty things because she knew that she isn't stunningly pretty herself. At best she could pass as slightly above average. She is very clever and she knew it, but she doesn't want anyone else to know it-so she kept her mouth shut and only open up to people like Diedara when it's needed to jab sharp insults at their constant teasing. Other than that she refrains from talking with any member of Akatsuki, as she's very afraid of them, and the entire business the organization leads.

As she sat up on her bed in the middle of the night, feeling that it's unfair he isn't as miserable as she is, she decided to call him.

Perhaps it's sleep deprivation, perhaps its the sleeping pills, or perhaps it's the fact that she drank three large cups of coffee during the day to force herself to stay focused-either way, she dialed the number itself.

After one ring, it was picked up by him, and his smooth voice came flowing to her ears like liquid, "Arai-san?"

Chiro wanted to slam down her phone right now, but she couldn't. She wanted to speak, but she can't make a sound. She wanted to call out his name-but she can't because her brain is in frozen mode, and he's only making it worse by also keeping quiet himself.

She almost hung up when his voice came again.

Then he said, "I can be at your place in half an hour."

"Y...yes." Chiro choked out.

The next half hour seemed like eternity as she buried her face between her palms and staring into her phone. She rocked herself back and forth out of excitement but also in daze as she tried to replay what just happened in her mind over and over again, but the is only thing that stuck, and it has to do with how comfortable and sensual his voice was. Chiro bit her lips and wanted to cry to herself, but restrained when she heard a slight knock on her door.

She quickly tiptoed to the other side of her room and opened the door as quiet as possible, and saw him standing there with a smile that for a second seemed actual genuine.

"Uchiha-san." She whispered, and at the moment she forgot to ask him how did she get past security, if Pein is in the house at all, or if anyone saw him-all that mattered as he was there, right there in the flesh, and she could reach over and touch him.

He emerged in her room by taking her in his embrace and slowly closing the door behind him. She snaked her arms around him and hugged him as fierce as possible, and she can hear his lips on her ear repeating one phrase over and over again, "You're mine, you're mine..."

Their first interaction was so bitter sweet it almost soaked her heart in melted sugar.

III.

The affair between the two of them actually lasted for a while, to Chiro's surprise. She doesn't know who to compliment, Pein's ignorance or Itachi's ability to distract him for a while.

In all fairness, if they have to base their relationship on something, Chiro would undoubtly blame it on seduction. She was clueless to anything sexual that wasn't in print, and he begin to introduce her to what it would be like to fly up to the clouds and overdose from too much physical pleasure. He was more acquainted with her body than herself, and he has the ability to grasp onto her weakness and abuse them to his heart's content. He has saw her through-from day one. he understood what she wants and offered every possible solution for her to be happy. He was thoughtful, kind, and understanding to a certain point where she didn't even understand she could be so happy he did what he did.

She does not lack money, yes, but there are many things she wanted but did not dare to ask Pein for. Itachi offered them all. He rented a private art studio for her, with equipments and her personal on-call instructor. He gave her books and collections of exquisite items that she appreciate so much-

Chiro often have phases. Phases of things or items that lasts for a while, then it died down. There was a phase when she was very into origami art, and then a phase when she was into glass vases and crystals. He could tell because she doesn't shut up about it. She researched into them and describe all of them to him, and he listens while stroking her hair or nibbles on her neck lightly. She asked for his opinion, which he gave expertly, and she is once more amazed by his insight and intelligence...

There was a phase, when Chiro was interested in desert items-especially skeletons of animals. The day after she described it, he immediately planned a trip to Sylvan, and introduced her to the Suna family. Chiro then received a complete set of a sheep skull that has been polished and ornamented with gold and silver-

This gift sent her beyond happiness over to euphoria. There are gifts that she's happy to receive, like a room in a mansion, but there are gifts that will mold into a piece of your heart you never knew it was missing before-and Itachi molded each gift into her.

It was around that time when Itachi suggested for her to stop working for the Akatsuki. She didn't argue with him and directly obeyed. She was one of those woman who accepts whatever gifts she was given without complaint or attempt to refuse them. There are various forms of independency in this world, and from the moment she saw him, she knew she has no independence left.

She begin to volunteer in a nearby daycare. She drives her tiny little smart car to the daycare every day, and play with children until they leave or Itachi pick her up. He would ask what she wants to do-if she has a suggestion, nine out of ten times they'd do it. If she doesn't, he pick whatever they do for the rest of the evening, and it usually end up in bed.

Sex with him is similar to sex with a god. He is omniscient and omnipotent. Each time he drags down to the deepest and darkest pleasure she can endure, and it's a pit that is so hard to climb back up. She is slowly being intoxicated with him, and as if he's a drug, every drip and drop has been dosing her into submission that she does not even realize. He adores her and spoils her to no end, and he even bought a star somewhere up in the sky named after her-even though she has no idea how to identify it, he always does.

One day, after sex, she lay her head against his chest as she drew circles on his stomach, asking him how many girlfriends he has had before.

"None." He sounds amused as he replied fluently.

"What about sex, how many sexual partners?" She asked.

He chuckled a little, knowing full well this is a game all girls love to play, to use the excuse of "truth" to coax the guy into saying a number that makes them angry, and then they would be on their knees apologizing for things they did not understand.

"What would you like me to say?" Itachi asked lazily.

"The truth." Chiro answered.

"I can't remember." He answered with some honesty. He was sure if he retrace his steps, he can answer that question. Instead he stirred it to another conversation point, "I was trained to."

"Trained to have sex?" Chiro was surprised as she lifted her head up to stare at him.

He nodded slightly while his lips curved up, "It was voluntary, I was young, I did not know better."

"Like the time when you were a teen and you tried out all sorts of drugs that existed?" Chiro asked, her eyes shone with fascination. "Those rumours, they were true, then?"

"Some." He raised a thumb to trace her lips, and she could feel him getting harder and hotter when her legs wrapped them around his lower abdomen.

"Why would you do such thing?" She asked, her eyes bright with interest.

"I was young." He smiled at her while his lips grazed over her collar bone.

She suddenly smiled mischievously as she poked his chest, "you say you didn't know any better, but I think, you did."

"Did I now."

"Of course. It's hard ever imagining you not knowing better."

He slid himself inside her as she tightened at the surprise, making him bit his lips in an attempt to control-and this is one of her favorite expressions of him. Only during sex and when she has a slight control, she can feel his attempt to actual control himself-and show it. She could be sneakier and drag this out longer, and he would punish her dearly for it later, but he chose to show that vulnerable part of him to her, a part that actually proves him to be a bit human-like.

His half lidded eye gazed at her in arousal, "tell me, what did you imagine, then?"

Chiro spared a little thought before replying, "control."

"Control?" He slowed his movement as his eyes gaining small amounts of clarity within them.

"Control." She emphasized, while blushing at his excruciatingly slow strokes, "you wanted to test it out, your control, didn't you? Why else would you do it?"

Itachi narrowed his eyes at her for a while, then he suddenly flipped her so she's beneath him as she pounded into her so fiercely the bedpost squeaked.

She moaned in ecstasy as he enveloped her with his kisses, his embrace, and his trap. She thought he was stunning beyond words when he climaxes on top of her, when she tries to concentrate on his face through water filtered eyes. She sees a man who is cold, heartless, murderous, but have extreme control and passivity. She sees the stunning face of his when he parted his lips slightly and his eyes widened as he thrusts into her, and his hands grasping onto her hair, tightening his arms around her beneath him. She wants to see the true emotions behind those eyes, those eyes that could look through the nature of everything they that was shed light to. She wants to see the vulnerability that he has, his fears and desires-

That was the first sign that Itachi should've taken note of. He shouldn't touch her at all-but it was already too late, and fate begin it's sick and cruel round with these two.

IV.

It was almost three month later when he told her, "I have a baby brother."

Chiro's eyes widened, "Can I meet him?"

"Not now. He loath me." Itachi chuckled, "He's still young."

"Oh." Her eyes dropped, "I did not imagine you to ever have relative. I thought one day you just fell out of the sky."

He brushes her hair aside while smiling at her absurd theory. Every time she says something ridiculous he does this, probably wondering exactly what is her head made out of.

The two sat on the couch in her room while they watched a romantic comedy movie. When the credits rolled, he caressed her shoulder as his voice loomed over her head, "I need your help."

She blinked while processing this information, "yes?"

"I need you, to retrieve a few documents." He said while his eyes fixated at the screen, "they're on his computer. All you need to do is to be alone with it for forty five seconds while you plug in a chip. After the time, the chip will have retrieved everything I need."

Chiro didn't move from her position of leaning across his chest as she focused on the TV itself. At that moment, she almost lost control of her movement as she laid there without a sound. He didn't rush her as they stayed like this for a while, even when the credits are finished, and all that's left is the home screen of the DVD. He didn't make a single move as he waited for her to say something.

At last she blinked out some moisture, and said calmly, "Alright."

That was the second one, and the most distinctive clue that Itachi could've gotten. It certainly surprised him-because he thought he has known her from front and back, from inside and out. He expected her to question him and to cause unnecessary fuss, or even just to refuse. He prepared for all solutions to the possible behaviours she might act upon, but this was not his first guess.

She didn't care, however, as she smiled at him and then ordered the servants to cook some shrimp for dinner.

By the time he was gone, she wasn't surprised to find a small golden chip in her purse.

V.

At the end of her shift at the day care one day, she was doing origami with a six year old boy with adorable big eyes and a mild personality. He has been always meek and shy around others, and she always try to take care of him by giving him something a little extra from time to time. He has taken an interest in origami recently and she begin to teach him everything she knew, and she knew quite a lot actually. After the basic crane and jewelry box, she's teaching him how to fold a scorpion.

His chubby little hand tried very hard to fold everything as neatly as possible, but it's a bit hard especially when there are so many folds in such a small space. She stopped her scorpion half way to watch his attempt to fold the tail.

"If you find it trouble some, just ruffle it a bit." She chuckles at his frustration while guiding his little fingers to create wonderful looking folds.

"This is too hard." He said, depressed.

"Of course it's not." She replied then showed him a trick, "If you use a toothpick and tuck all the folds in... There, see?"

"Right!" He smiled, "I'm finishing the tail.

"That's great-"

"Arai-san?" A girl called out at the doors, "Someone is out here looking for you."

"Is it Uchiha-kun?" Chiro smiled at herself as she patted the boy's head, encouraging him to continue, "This will be all, I need to go-"

"It's not Uchiha-san." The girl turn to look at the man standing outside, there's a sliver of fear in his voice as she replied, "he...he..."

Chiro had a sinking feeling as she exited the day care with her bag and coat. Pein stood at the gates while looking at her without emotion.

"Hi." She walked up to him and looked around. It looks like he's alone today, which was very unusual, "What happened? Is there anything going on?"

He didn't reply as he opened the door to his Bentley for her.

She got in, and tried very hard not to feel nervous.

They drove onto the main road as he asked, "Where would you like to have dinner?"

Chiro secretly let out a breath, if he's letting her pick then it probably meant he's not going to kill her, "Um... How about southern food? Soup and noodles?"

He turned the wheel and switched to another road that led them to the most expensive noodle place in town.

She kept her place by shutting up and let him speak. He ordered for her as she sipped on her lemon honey tea. They were at a private booth with curtains shielding them away from normal customers. She looked around the carefully decorated room and felt this must be one of the weirder days she have.

"It is to my understanding... that you've became involved with Uchiha Itachi."

His voice made her stare right at him, and he stared right back.

There weren't the usual piercing on his face today. It's completely smooth, in fact, it's scaring her.

Chiro carefully asked while looking at him, "is that a problem?"

"No." He says as he stirs the coffee in front of him, "I was curious-also-I'm a bit surprised."

She kept quiet.

"Uchiha Itachi isn't someone that could be bound by relationships." His voice was cold.

Chiro silently agreed, but she smiled at him and didn't say anything.

"I'm guessing this will continue?" He twirled a chopstick around his fingers.

"I don't know." Chiro's face went pink.

He observed her carefully as he dropped the topic, "Tell me about your recent adventures. Why is there a sheep skull in our living room?"

Chiro smiled as she jumped to a detailed story of how she hopped on a plane and ventured to the deep dry desert in Sylvan, and the eccentric Suna family she met, including Sasori's twin brother, Gaara, the man who never sleeps, and the girl who had a massive fan that could cover up her entire body. They helped her find an animal skull in the desert with predator bite marks still indented on the bones. They tried to carry it all back to one piece, and had craftsmen hemmed the edges and broken parts with gold and silver. Then she loved it so much she insisted in carrying it all the way back, scaring some kids who were passing by in the airport.  
He listened with interest, interrupting here and there with a light smile that's almost non-existent on his face.

When the food arrived, she helped him to mix the seasoning with part sugar, part salt and soy sauce, along with various other herbs for his noodles and tempura. He watched her as she poured more tea for them both, suggesting some honey for his tea. He nodded slightly to give her permission, while she laughed aloud at her own jokes, almost spilling the tea.

Towards the end of their dinner, Pein begin to get into her conversation by asking questions about her volunteer work, and her new hobbies. It turns out she's really into collecting dolls now. The more porcelain and creepy like, the better. But she kept them in a separate room from her sleeping quarters because they scare her at night. They scared the cook too, when she discovered Chiro stuffed the most creepy one in the freezer and it cracked. The cook nearly had a heart attack, that's why they had takeout for two days in a row.

He then asked as he watched her eating a cake with green tea ice-cream on the side, "Why didn't you ask me for freedom?"

She stopped midway, but not before finishing her half melted ice-cream in the next couple of spoon fulls. "Pardon me?"

"Why didn't you ask for release from me, from that house?"

He was perfectly serious when he said it, but Chiro averted his eyes as she thought about her answer. After formulating several sentences, she decided to tell the truth-she has rarely lied to him and she felt uncomfortable doing it.

"I want to be protected." She said simply.

He was mildly surprised. He thought his security team was being subtle enough, but as it turned out, she actually knew they were there with her twenty-four seven all along. It's an uneasy feeling to realize this girl who has saved him has more tact than he thought she did.

"From?"

"Everything." She said, her tone turning bitter.

He tossed his business card table as he told the waiter to charge it to the company, and the two exited the shop.

"Thank you for today." She sounded grateful, "I know how rare it is, and difficult for you to squeeze out some time without taking any calls or take care of any... problems."

He didn't reply as he drove her back to the mansion. Before she gets off, he said, "I need to attend some business matters-I need to travel up to Celeste for a few days."

"Of course." She smiled at him. Little did she know that she would go to Celeste too-to attend a funeral.

He gave her one last look as she got off. He turned his eyes back onto the road as he drove away, and glanced at the rear-view mirror to see she's standing in her place, looking after him.

He stomped on the gas petal and disappeared out of sight.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

TBC

A/N:  
I really have explained the nature of this story, it is ultimately about Sakura and Sasuke, but it's not like the entire world is wrapped around them and others had no life. How believable would anyone seem if I say Sasuke took her child away and she just gave it up? There needs to be explaining to do, there need to be parallelism, there needs to be precedence and mistakes that should be made first to mold the two into who they are today.  
I'm going to correct the main characters of this story. Everybody is right. It's not really about Sakura and Sasuke right now. But the fuck are anyone complaining about, I write these things and post them for free. I write to create art to be appreciated, and critiqued if I have done something wrong that would effect my writing and future projects. Because I write to improve my own writing more than anything else. Please-let me write my story in my own way. And if there's a major problem that isn't subjective or biased, inform me. If anyone goes over the line and complains about Sakura and Sasuke having less scenes, this story will discontinue. Might as well.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

I.

She walks in beauty.

-Byron

II.

Sakura witnessed Sasuke kill someone once.

It was not long after Sakura forced herself on her. In fact it was probably only a couple of weeks later, when they were both so naive.

She was waiting outside of his office, nobody noticed her because there was a big crowd around his office, where they were all watching two men in the middle. One of them was kneeling on the floor, begging the other. The man he begged to was Juugo, and he simply shook his head and said calmly, "I can't help you, you should go beg Uchiha-san."

Sakura was suspicious, so she sneaked into the coffee room, shutting it close while she shoved a table under the vent. She carefully removed the vent itself as she got on to the table and tried hard not to wobble. Her eyes tried to focus through the short space between this room and Sasuke's office, and as it turned out she could actually see faint sillouettes and hear some voices.

That man with purple hair was shoved inside the office, while Sasuke was obviously not having a good day. He tapped on his table loudly while he stared at the man in front of him with impatience.

The man shivered as the door was locked behind them. Sasuke first stared at him while reading over some files. The man did not stop shivering as he did not dare to look at him in the face.

Sasuke then sighed as he spoke, "Tell me-what did we do. What did I do that made you think was so unfair that you had to betray me?"

"No, I didn't-they forced me-" The man begin a series of blabbering through his mouth.

Sasuke listened with patience as the man spent the next five minutes justifying himself with various excuses. The Uchiha kept a cool demeanor as he asked, "did you know what we found under your car?"

The man's eyes widened.

Sasuke pulled out a series of photos, "bombs. Activated pressing the break. Luckily we stopped you before you got in, huh. Did you really thing that there was a possibility of you getting away if you tried to betray me? Wouldn't they try to kill you knowing I will find you and betray them?"

The man then begin to beg, "Uchiha-san, I really didn't mean to. It's Haruno-san, he..."

"Oh?" Sasuke stood up, intrigued, "What did he do?"

"He... he threatened me with my family, sir." He said.

Sasuke turned around to pull out another set of files, "We have confirmation that your wife and kids have disappeared this morning."

"That's why I came to you, I swear. I swear I did not try to escape." He stuttered out.

Sasuke thought about this for a while until her pulled out a revolver from his desk and laid it out in front of him, "here."

"Sir?"

"I'm going to give you a choice." Sasuke's voice sounded almost gentle. "You are either going to kill yourself now, and your family will be safe. Or I'm going to kill yourself after five minutes, and your family is going to die with you."

The entire scene looked like a bad car crash, and Sakura can't look away. Sasuke's office is polished with crystal ornaments and oak wood furniture with marble flooring, but it's an execution site. That man is going to die soon, and not by choice. Sasuke is forcing him to do something twisted, which spoke volumes about Sasuke himself.

Sakura felt like going into the room to stop all this, but knowing it's all out of her hands. There's nothing she could do for the poor man, just as there is nothing she could do about-anything, really. This is her first looking at-

Before she could snap back from her train of thought, the gun was picked up by the man, and to Sakura's surprise, the man smiled as he said, "Sir, you're testing me, aren't you?"

"How so?" Sasuke's lips curved up as he tilted his head slightly to stare at him.

The man weighted the gun, "You couldn't have put any bullets in this thing, it's as light as a feather."

Sasuke stared at him for a long time, and laughed, "Well, you only have one chance. You either point that thing at yourself, or I'll do it for you."

The whole situation turned into some sick joke as the man laughed in fear, "I've heard your similar tests, sir. You give them the option of an empty revolver and ask them to do the same."

"Did I, now."

"Yes, sir." The man was laughing nervously as he glanced at the clock on the desk, "It makes sense, sir, because if this was loaded, there's the possibility of me point the gun at you, sir."

"You can certainly try." His voice was smooth.

The man blinked as the timer is edging close to zero. He closed his eyes and then pointed the gun at himself. He pulled the trigger while smiling, as if fully expecting an empty shot-instead it was met by a loud bang, and the bullet tore through his bring and shot through to the other side of the room, cracking a glass framed painting.

Sasuke frowned as he picked his revolver up from the man's hand and wiped it with his silk handkerchief roughly before shoving it back into his desk drawer.

The door to his office opened as some people rushed in to clean this mess up and replace the painting. Sasuke continued to go through his files as Sakura wobbled down from the desk and crouched under it, shaking.

III.

General Hatake's death came as a shock for everybody.

He was one of the first great leader to declare this country as a republic, and that was almost thirty years ago. The mystery of his death was not well known-in fact his son asked the press to kept it a secret from the public, so nobody knew exactly how he died, just that he died, and everything will be taken over by Hateke Kakashi.

During this time, Sakura was still grieving over the fact perhaps Sasuke doesn't love her-and Hinata asked her to accompany her to Celeste to pay their respects to the Hatake family, while the girls each representing their respect clans.

Sakura agreed, thinking this might be a good idea to get away from Leon for a while, and clear her head. So the girls travelled to Celeste with their army of guards and attendants.

Before all this, though, Kakashi was suspicious of his father's death. But he cannot get overly involved in it, as it will look very suspicious. So in order to sort everything out, he personally asked for help from the elder Uchiha, knowing he has the complete capability to solve his father's death and give him a justified reason. In return, Kakashi had to promise Itachi a favor.

The arrangement was set, and to cover Uchiha's arrival, Kakashi released to the press that he's planning a huge funeral-a funeral of the century. Everybody who was somebody must come-and came they did.

It was on the funeral when Sakura first caught the sight of Itachi, and she froze in her place. She saw the future Sasuke and had a faint illusion of traveling into the future. Despite Hinata's advice, she ran up to Itachi and dragged on his sleeve, "You-"

Itachi turned around to face the pink haired girl, and he smiled softly at her. "You must be my brother's wife. Haruno-san, correct?"

"Ye..yes." Sakura was stunned, "I... you're Sasuke's older brother."

"I'm surprise he mentioned me." Itachi chuckled.

"No, I... I overheard." She was flustered at his beyond beautiful face.

"Pardon me, this is my... friend." Itachi motioned Sakura at the dark haired girl who looked tired. "Chiro Arai. Chiro, Haruno Sakura."

"It's a pleasure." Sakura quickly bowed to her.

Chiro squeezed out a smile and said, "Sakura, you have a lovely name. I wish you the best of luck."

Sakura was dazed as Chiro said her greeting and walked away. Itachi immediately followed after her, but not out of necessity, rather a habit. Sakura interpreted this as a sign that perhaps that girl was in the same situation as she is-falling in love with someone who doesn't love her back. It saddens her that Itachi is the model that Sasuke will become in a few years, and despite the attractive smile, he looked colder than anything she has ever seen in her life.

She suddenly desperately want to talk to her-to that girl that is somehow involved in the elder Uchiha's life. She wants to make sure-just perhaps, there is a slight possibility that Sasuke won't be so cold and cruel to her.

Hinata tugged onto Sakura's elbow and whispered, "Sakura-chan!"

She flipped her hair back and discovered Kakashi was standing behind them, with his eyes peering at them with curiosity. She quickly bowed, and both girls give their condolences to the sole heir of a mass military empire. He responded to them in a friendly and kind manner before taking off into the main hall, where food is served.

"He seems polite." Hinata said.

Sakura didn't say anything, but it's the first time she realized what just happened. Those are not the eyes who were mourning because of a lost member of family. Those are the eyes of a passive aggressive monster-she knew because she has seen it often in Sasuke. He stares at her the same way, as if she has done the most horrific crime in the world.

"Come on." Sakura grabbed onto Hinata's sleeve. "Let's go get some food, there's someone I need to talk to."

"Who is it?"

"Uchiha-san's... uh... I don't know. I need to talk to her."

"But Sakura-san, we shouldn't wander around..."

"It's fine." She said, her eyes peering into the hall, searching for Chiro's figure. "I really need to go talk to her, excuse me fore a few minutes-"

IV.

"Are you absolutely sure, Itachi." Kakashi's voice is strained as he stared at the file in front of him. "This is a very serious accusation."

"I wouldn't be making it if it wasn't true." Itachi's voice was smooth as always.

They were in the study of the Hatake's mansion. Like everything else the family owns, it's decorated with a prim and serious military air. The walls have decorative guns hanging around with sculptures in the shape of bombs, airplanes and tanks. It's like walking into a military museum rather than a household. Everything is so elaborate it's not hard to tell this family is heavily invested in the militia.

"I see." Kakashi's eyes burnt with a slow fire. "I have something in mind, but what do you propose we do?"

"We should nip this in the bud." Itachi's eyes focused onto the white haired man. "I don't think they would stop at this. They are growing more and more aggressive."

"Would it be any trouble for you?" Kakashi turned to Itachi with a straight face. "That girl..."

"I wouldn't call it a trouble. It's an inconvenience, really." Itachi smiled slightly, "She already retrieved the information we want from Pein."

Kakashi had an urge to laugh. But his urge was quenched by sudden pity. It seemed that women has no place in a man's world. "Alright, Uchiha. What do you propose is our next move?"

"Kill him, of course. Jail can't contain a man like him." Itachi's eyes was a depth of never ending black hole, "We need to make it quick, and preferably an ambush. I need your powers. I have some men of my own, but the ones I could trust are scarce and few in numbers."

"I have a group of men which I would trust with my life." Kakashi said, his eyes bright, "I will lead them together with you."

"Of course." Itachi nodded, "And then there's the issue of... finding a scapegoat."

Kakashi smiled sarcastically, "I expect the great Uchiha to already figure it all out already?"

"I merely stumbled upon the chance when my younger brother presented it to me. And coincidentally, the date and time match." Itachi said, while painting a mental picture to Kakashi, "In fact, Haruno-san was just up here last month to take care of a load of good. Wouldn't you be suspicious too?"

"If I didn't have the facts with me, I would." Kakashi said, pointing at his file.

"Let's set it up." Itachi pulled out his phone, "I already have the date with the DA booked, now it's all a matter of your cooperation and consent."

"It's a family matter, so I justify myself by claiming it's revenge." Kakashi replied, "What about you though-isn't this enough to drag you to hell?"

Itachi laughed before he exited the large door, "I already am."

V.

"Chiro-chan? May I call you that?" Sakura's eyes were bright with nervousness, "can we talk please... If you don't mind, of course."

"I don't." Chiro smiled slightly at the younger girl, "It seemed that you have an emergency. Would you like to go to somewhere private?"

"Over here is fine." Sakura looked around where they are now-which is behind the pillars in the main hall. It's half covered by shadows and doesn't seem to conspicuous if they were caught in a room within the mansion. It's not their house after all. "I just want to ask... about Itachi-san."

"Oh." Chiro doesn't look surprised, as if she had this kind of conversation for thousands of times.

"No, no, no, no-" Sakura suddenly understood why she got the wrong idea, "I'm so sorry, no I don't mean to have a talk about him in that way. I just ... I'm married to Sasuke-kun, and I'm deeply in love with him. But I'm uneasy. I know- there is a slight possibility that... he doesn't love me back..." Her voice trailed off.

Chiro waited for her to continue with a smile on her face.

Sakura took that as an encouragement and said, "...I guess what I'm saying is... Is Itachi-san in love with you? They... the Uchihas... because they're so identical.. they are capable of love, aren't they?"

Chiro suddenly want to laugh until tears come out. "I... Oh my gosh, Sakura-chan. I don't know how to answer this without making you disappointed."

Sakura was already disappointed. She lowered her head and felt her self want to emit tears out from her eyes in shame. "I'm sorry."

"No." Chiro quickly reach out to touch her arm, "Please. Don't cry."

"I can't help it." Sakura tried very hard to contain, "I... I think I did something horrible to my husband."

"We all make mistakes, don't we?" Chiro whispered, "we will have to pay it in the end. It's not time for fate to collect your debt yet, maybe you can try to do the right thing to compensate."

"It's too late, it's too late- he doesn't love me." Sakura whispered with a fierceness that startled Chiro.

"If you know-if you knew... why did you..." Chiro tried to form a coherent sentence without Sakura crying all over her shoulder.

"Because I refuse to believe it-I refused to believe that someone would be so cruel to me... and I was so sure that he loved me." Sakura suddenly want to go crazy, but holding onto the last thread of sanity, "What did you do? Tell me, Chiro-chan, tell me, what did you do with Itachi-kun?"

"I don't know what to tell you." Chiro was confused. "What made you think that he actually cares for anyone?"

"He's here with you, right? And he followed you. He wants to be with you." Sakura emphasized, because she has never seen Sasuke actually wanted to participate in anything public with her.

Chiro finally couldn't contain it, she laughed out loud. Sakura waited in patience after five minutes until she finished her laughter.

"I'm sorry." Chiro coughed, "I don't know what else to tell you other than you have poor observation skills, dearest. The elder Uchiha-I doubt he has cared for anything on this planet other than his brother. Even his brother-I feel it's a duty, a remorse of some kind, and I suppose that's the best we could get out of him-remorse."

"Chiro-chan." Sakura's eyes were sad, "You're not happy either, are you?"

"No, I'm happy." Chiro smiled as she clutched her stomach, "I'm happy of course. There are worse things in life than not being loved. Even though I'm waiting for him to hand me a hiatus notice, or refusal-I'm just happy if I could keep on living in this world without him in my life. Uchihas... they're not good for the heart, dear."

"Oh my god." Sakura's hands flew to her mouth as she stared when the elder Uchiha turned from the pillar and made himself visible. Quite possibly he has heard the entire conversation, and he has had enough, so he put a stop to it by making himself visible.

"Haruno-san." Itachi's voice was colder than usual.

Chiro froze too, but she refuse to let it get to her.

"I'm sorry." Sakura quickly said as she turned around and ran.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

TBC

A/N: Man, this trip down the memory lane took longer than I thought. Next chapter is the continuation with the past. Soon we jump back to the present.

If anyone has any immediate questions, please pm me. I'm refraining from reading the reviews of this story because I'm afraid I'll smash up my computer and renounce myself from fanfiction. It would be a pity since I have so many chapters stashed up.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

I.

I've got you, under my skin

-Porter

II.

The two sat in the first class seats in the plane alone-other than the attractive flight attendant waiting on them as she poured wine in both their cups.

Itachi nodded at the attendant to tell her it's enough. She exited and closed the curtains, giving them privacy.

"'Uchihas are not good for the heart', huh?" Itachi's eyes narrowed at her.

"It was a slip." Chiro was too tired to even pretend she's sorry.

"A slip?" Itachi's voice is now colder than ever.

"A slip." Chiro said, her voice equally cold.

"I didn't even know you could lie."

"Obviously, when I had to steal something from him and give it to you."

"Is that what you were worried about?" Itachi turned away from her and sipped on his wine

Chiro turned to look at him-but immediately regretted it. Even angry, he looked so beautiful she could felt her heart could be broken by a small tap. His long fingers holding onto the glass is a form of artistry that could be made as the picture of the year if the photo were taken right now. He has long avoided the spot light and media, and she understood why. He would drive all women mad with desire even with a picture, with the astonishment that such beauty could ever exist.

His eyes turned to her, and she tried to look away-but it's impossible. Itachi has a look for everything. She swear that his eyes have a power that is beyond her understanding, or the world's understanding, in fact. He can make his eyes emit a look towards anyone that would oblige to his orders. If he wants to hold the eye contact, it's impossible to break free. If he wants them to cower, they would be scared to stare at his face for days.

"You had the choice to refuse." Finally his face turned into a smooth and light smile as he tapped his glass. "Dearest, you could've just say you're uncomfortable with it."

Chiro sneered.

"I have to say that is not an attractive expression on you." His eyes peered at her half lidded.

She refused to be seduced. When he has barely even lift a finger just his expression and his body posture could make her go insane with desire-and she refuse to do so. So she broke the eye contact by force and stared straight ahead and said, "I think we're over."

"Do you now."

"Yes." Chiro responded to his mockery with a seriousness that she rarely displayed. "You're a terrifying man."

"How so?" There's a smile in his voice that she resents. She almost wanted to laugh at him for even asking that question. Does he honestly now know how, or is he simply just playing with her? Either ways he demanded an answer, so she chose the most obvious ones out of the bunch.

"I have guessed wrong-twice-about your intentions for being with me." She replied.

Now Itachi is interested. His curiosity spiked by her resentful tone. "Pray tell."

Chiro organized her thoughts and said, "when you first approached me, it's obvious that you wanted to be closer to Pein. At least, that's what everybody else thought and I was no exception. I personally do not think that Pein and I are particularly close, but if he kept up that facade, I don't care."

"So that's your first impression of me." Itachi sounded a bit aloof as he caught himself in analyzing his memories. "What's the second time?"

"I knew I was wrong the first time when I don't see you and him together very often." Chiro continued, debating whether or not to disclose the entire information, but knowing Itachi will somehow get it out of her anyways-this is simply her opinion, and she reassured herself by justifying everyone is entitled to her opinion. "I was suspicious, but then I developed another theory when you asked me to steal information from him. You're trying to turn the tables and take over Akatsuki."

"Is that right." Itachi's tone wasn't a question, instead it's an amusement.

"I was wrong again." Chiro continued, it seemed that she couldn't stop. "You're not trying to take over-perhaps you are. Perhaps it's a packaged deal-but you're trying to kill him, aren't you? You want him dead-and not for the normals reasons a psychopath would choose. You have something calculated in the back of your mind that needs him dead."

Itachi finally laughed. He set his glass down as he tossed his head back and laughed for the next minute.

Chiro ignored his laughter even though it's terrifying her. She picked up her glass and emptied it in one gulp. This will calm her nerves, and at least make her delirious if she dies.

Itachi finally stopped laughing as he turned to her, "you really think, that in order to kill him, I would have to get close to you?"

Chiro blinked for a few times to show her bemusement, but she immediately shook her head, "I don't care what you say-I have never been more certain of his my entire life."

"And you're going to stop me?"

"Of course not. I don't have that power." Chiro's eyes locked with his, "but I am, however, worried about my future."

"Explain."

"After his death, his wealth and property must be in your control. I would much rather to disappear from your life, and knowing this, I need a sum of money to get started. I've volunteered in the day care too long to accumulate anything-"

"You don't have to worry about that." Itachi chuckled. "Pein left a third of his shared to you, in the event that he died."

Chiro was startled.

"It seemed you two really did have a stronger bond than you thought you would." Itachi eyed her carefully.

She turned away him, knowing he's reading her expression right now. This act, however, made the Uchiha mad. He did something that wasn't familiar to him-he used the direct approach and asked her right away, "did you sleep with him?"

Chiro flipped to stare at him as if he were crazy.

This wasn't enough, however, as he narrowed his eyes further and stare at him, "did you?"

She voiced her opinion aloud, "you're crazy."

He raised a hand and threw his wine and glass all the way across the small space, splashing the curtains.

Chiro shrunk away from him as he grabbed onto her arms and whispered, "I made a mistake."

She whimpered a little as he kissed her provocatively, thrusting his tongue inside her mouth and ran over every inch. When she's out of breath he finally released her and muttered against her lips, "I should've never touch you."

Chiro wanted to cry, but his arms and fingers are snaking around her torso, inflicting small flames of pleasure that retracted her tears and let out small moans that seemed to only encourage him. He made his way down from her mouth to her neck and collar bones. She breathed heavily as he sucked on her skin, making him shiver in total pleasure. His perfect physical features seemed to encourage her to encourage him. She has never been able to resist him in this way. She has never even voiced her anger of him aloud. She should've been grateful that someone like her could even come close to touching him-but the pain is slowly eroding away her insecurity, replacing by endless doubt and fear.

It was the first time she wished she could be dumber, or at least, more clueless. She wanted to be one of those dumb girls she often saw on the arms of the Akatsuki members. She could be one of them, after enduring pleasure, they would let her go and pay her an admirable sum and she would never see them in her life again. She wished she has that courage to ran away without being killed.

"Stop-" She whimpered. Her voice hoarse as he slid two fingers into her while focusing on her face with such intensity it's melting her.

"Say it again." He breathed out, "say you want me to stop."

And she couldn't. His movements are driving her mad. She wants nothing more than to mold into her, become a part of him, and only he would have the power to do so. She vaguely wandered if any other man that comes in to her life in the future would even begin to compare to him. It would be so hard to find happiness after being with him. He set the standard so high it's impossible to reach.

"Please." She panted, her eyes watery from the repressed desire. "Please."

"Dearest." He kissed her tears away. "Don't you know... every time I look at you, I go mad with desire..."

She shook her head, and he doesn't know if she heard. He finally decided to relieve her and slide into her with a swift movement. She gasped from the pleasure and he bit his lips to stay in control. She doesn't know-but he let her focus her eyes on him when he climaxes. She doesn't know, but he allowed her the maximum patience he has with anyone. She doesn't know that she was wrong again, and if she kept guessing, she might figure out what it really was.

He has finally realized, that he should've never calculated her, approach her, or even look at her.

By then it was too late.

III.

Sasuke came back to Haruno's mansion after a long day at work. His brother just called him for him to take a two day leave to York and take care of some business involving Pein. He figured he could get a good night's rest before he leaves. This hope failed, however, as the moment he entered the door a pink cloud hovered around his vision, "Sasuke-kun!"

He didn't make eye contact as he let of of his coat and bags.

"Is this true? What it's saying about my father-he didn't kill Hateke-san, why are they charging him, why is he arrested?" Sakura was frantic, holding a newspaper, "He was innocent, I swear he was."

Sasuke sighed as he said, "I'm going to York tomorrow to sort this all out-can you settle down for a few days?"

"I-" She looked hurt, but he didn't care. He entered his study, where a bed is prepared for him, ready and waiting.

Sakura stood where she was, her eyes watery. She must go to the gynecologist's tomorrow and she hoped Sasuke would come with her. But she figured her father must came first-as he is of the utmost importance in her life, next to Sasuke. She really hoped that Sasuke would be able to rescue her father, and both would return to Leon and live happily ever after...

Sasuke, on the other hand, was planning things himself. He is assessing his situation to figure out what is the best possible route for him to take. News just came that the leader of Akatsuki died-no one knows how, but he died without traces of poison in his body, and no physical damage. It was the best possible murder, with no prints or no evidence at all. He knew, though, that his brother somehow killed him without even lifting his finger. After several encounters with his brother, Sasuke begin to grow weary of him. He hate to be the person who uses his brother's love to get what he wants-but it was necessary. Of course there's the possibility that his brother seemed to be calculating everything in his equations-even himself. He might need to take precaution against Itachi, and at the moment, he really doesn't know what he could do to over power him-if there ever was a time that power if needed.

With Pein gone, and Itachi free of all suspicion (at the time of the murder he was in an social gathering with hundred of witnesses), he naturally steps up the latter, as there isn't anyone else within the organization that is willing to defy him-no one, except for Konan.

Konan is one of the founding members, she holds a small percentage of shares, but she still has some say. Sasuke's job, naturally, is to kill her. Sasuke has given many jobs similar to these, however this presents itself as a challenge as Konan was a known lover of bombs and explosions. The worst case scenario would be she ties bombs strapped to her body and brings down the half a kilometer radius down with her. Sasuke can't have that, he still needs to live.

"If you think it's too tricky, little brother, I'll handle it." Itachi said to him when they met.

"Not at all." Sasuke glared at him, "give me a few days."

"You have five." Itachi said, checking his watch, "Kakashi will assist you with any backup you might need. Right now I suggest not to use your own forces-as they belonged to Haruno."

"Of course." Sasuke switched his glance to the Hatake heir, and analyzed him-he seemed to be a capable soldier, a true legacy the elder general left behind.

"Let's meet in York the day after tomorrow." Kakashi decided, "Then we will make a plan. My forces takes a while to get here."

"Of course." Sasuke was forced to agree, seeing the two of them was in this business a long time before he muddled in.

"I need to thin out the herd in Akatsuki." Itachi said, "there's a lot of potential threats, Konan is the biggest, of course. While you two take care of her, I will comb through the entire organization."

"I wonder if there will be anyone left." Kakashi mused.

Itachi shot him a glare, "Do your job. Don't let him die."

Sasuke resents them talking about him as if he wasn't here, and they acted as if Sasuke was a preschool boy.

"I think he's capable." Kakashi tossed a glance at him, "he is, after all, your brother."

"True." Itachi twirled a pen in his hand before throwing it towards a dart behind him without looking. It hit the red center. He sighed, then said, "Remember when I first joined-I had to pretend Pein's skills were better."

"What excruciating agony." Kakashi said in extreme sarcasm, "Poor dear."

"Just get the job done." Itachi sighed, rubbing his forehead, "Make sure not to leave any loopholes. I've had enough shares of troubles lately."

"Oh now she's trouble?" Kakashi teased. "She upgraded herself?"

"Just leave." Itachi sent out the 'get the hell out of my hotel room' order. "Sasuke"

Sasuke looked up to meet his gaze.

"Be careful."

Sasuke made a scoff and left the room.

Behind him, he could hear Kakashi say, "that's kid is one day going to be the death of you."

"Let's hope not, and Kakashi, has anyone ever said your predictions are total bogus."

"Really, I think they're rather logical..."

IV.

Chiro dusted the dirt off of the large comforter she brought out to the yard. She heard news of Pein's death last week, and the police has been in and out of this house many times, interviewing her. She gave her answers in the best way possible, without actually revealing anything that will get herself killed. She did, however, asked a doctor to come and check up on her. After initial diagnoses, Shizune claimed Chiro is pregnant.

Chiro was not surprised. She has been off the pills for almost three month now, and during these three month, it's very likely that she got pregnant. Even though Itachi is the only man she has had sex with, she doesn't want this baby to be born in this mansion. That's why she's slowly packing up various of her belongings, preparing for a sneak out. Unfortunately with the death of Pein she's momentarily stuck here for questions and interviews. But the police said she can leave the town after another week.

She held her hand on her stomach and comforted, "one more week, baby, just seven days."

The servants in his house has mostly been let go. She lived alone and she felt fine. She haven't seen Itachi since the plane incident, and the moment they got off, he sent her home in a limo while he went in another direction. She didn't ask, nor did she want to know. And surprise surprise, a couple weeks later Pein died.

Part of Pein's shares automatically went to Chiro. A lawyer came with the papers asking her to sign them. Chiro decided to free herself from all obligations of Akatsuki by giving away eighty percent of shares to that day care she volunteered at. She knew they also help abandoned babies and how hard money was for them. After that she converted the rest to cash, went to a casino and laundered the money.

She know every one of her moves might be monitored by Itachi, but then again after so many days he still haven't called or tried to contact her. Maybe he has got his goal and doesn't care for her anymore. If he wants to relieve his physical needs, Chiro was sure there are many women, or men, willing to fulfill them.

Her mind already calculated out her future plans. With the money she has, she can put a down payment on a small apartment in a nice neighbourhood, and then live happily for at least the next five years. She'll be working, of course, after her baby was born. She wanted this baby for so long it felt like a dream. Her volunteers at the day care made her realize that children are the purest of the purest form a human being could be. She wanted to bring someone like this into the world that she can call her own. She wanted a small boy that would fold origami with her, help combing her hair when she's dozing off, or playing soccer on the grass field while she reads...

After years of involving in Akatsuki, she felt it's time to lift herself from the mud and start a new life.

It amazed her, however, that Pein protected her from seeing all the ugly business they dealt with, and she was grateful. But her fears are too prominent, and she felt so guilty for betraying him. She dreamt of him in her dream, and they're all nice dreams. Sometimes they were dreams of him guarding over her, sometimes they were dreams of him playing chess with her... no matter which one, she felt happy when waking up.

These dreams are few and rare, as she dreamt more about Itachi. And those dreams could be classified as nightmares. He would toy her and she wrapped around his fingers, and he could squish her like a bug any minute. Itachi's overwhelming presence even presented themselves in dreams.

Soon, though. Soon, this nightmare would be over. She wants to go down to Sylvan, and reconnect with Temari and Gaara. She met Temari once, and she was very nice to her. Chiro wanted to see if they could offer her a job, or some sort of living space. They have enough forces to ensure that she won't get slaughtered if Itachi ever decides to rage against her.

She doubt it would come to that, though. It's obvious that he doesn't waste his time on things he deem insignificant. She just really hope she would be one of those insignificance things he looks over.

Chiro's eyes went to the kitchen clock as she gathered the covers and folded them into a neat and thick rectangle. It's almost past one in the middle of the night. She should go to sleep-even when she has no obligation to wake up in the morning, she should still try to sleep with the regular resting times for regular people. Who knew-

"Chiro." A gasping voice came behind her.

She flipped around and saw the purple haired girl breathing heavily. "Konan, oh my god." Chiro blinked, "what happened?"

She's not in her best shape, as her lips and face are bruised, her clothes teared as if she has lived through the apocalypse. Her eyes are more solemn than ever as she stared at Chiro in a resentful manner, "do you think it's a coincidence that almost three days after the death of Pein, someone tried to kill me. The bastards." Konan narrowed her eyes at her suspiciously, "Are you involved in this?"

"Of course not!" Chiro was appalled, "do you want to hide here for the time being-"

"It's too late. They know I'm here." Konan sucked in a breath, "but I will hide in the basement passage, and you stay here to cover for me. They won't kill you... I think."

"I understand." Chiro didn't blink. "I will not betray you."

Konan bit her lips, and said, "if I hear they're coming for me, this entire house is going to go up in ashes."

Chiro stared at her, horrified.

Konan laughed bitterly, "You're the one to talk. You caused Pein's death-he never forgives."

She ran down to the basement, and almost as soon as she's gone, there's a banging at the door. Chiro scrambled around to look for a solution, but unfortunately Sasuke knocked down the doors and came into the house with a dozen soldiers behind him. He eyed at Chiro in suspicion and asked, "Who are you?"

"Chiro Arai." Chiro's voice was shaking. Even though she's at a panic, she could tell that those eyes and features belonged so someone she was so familiar with. This boy... he must be...

"Uchiha Sasuke?" Chiro asked, her eyes are a bit sensitive to all their flash lights.

Sasuke was a bit pissed off at the moment. It's not enough that Itachi under estimates him, he had to thrust Kakashi to him. He could've done the job alone, that he's confident of. But now that his happened, he has to make sure the job gets done-preferably with him singlehandedly killing Konan.

It's easier said than done, as he almost caught her multiple times. She always managed to throw him off and escape right under his nose. She has enough of a lead in this town, knowing every crook she could escape to, and now he tracked her own to his specific mansion-still he can't seem to locate her.

His men reported back to him, "She's not here, sir."

"She cannot escape. We secured the primilaries." Sasuke bit out, his voice a bit rough from the constant cat and mouse game. He then focused on Chiro, "You. This was Pein's house, why are you in it?"

"I live here." Chiro said calmly, "for almost five years now."

Sasuke sneered, "If you do live here, then you must know where Konan has escaped to."

"I don't." Chiro lied with equal calmness.

They were at a stalemate for almost an hour, when Sasuke's men reported back, "We checked a three mile kilometer around this house, it seems she really is gone, sir."

"That's not possible!" Sasuke yelled, "We almost had her-there's something we missed. Some puzzle, some secret passage way-"

He then turned to Chiro and whispered, "You knew, did you?"

Chiro stared at him.

"You've lived here for a long time, didn't you?" Sasuke asked, his eyes fixed on the girl who just went pale. "Grab her."

Two of the guards begin to grab onto either of her arms. Sasuke asked, "Tell me, where is she."

Chiro looked away.

Angered, Sasuke motioned for one of the soldiers to come, and then he told him, "Slap her."

The soldier hesitated, but Sasuke yelled, "Do you want to find that bitch or don't you?"

And a slap was dealt onto Chiro's face, she couldn't fall down because of the two men holding her up.

"Stop it, Stop!" Chiro tried to wiggle free. She was reminded there's a small life living in her abdomen, a small bundle of her pride and joy that she's going to bring into the world.

"Tell me, or else..." Sasuke hated to threaten woman, but in this case he cannot let Konan escape alive again. It would cause immense trouble to his brother, and of course it'd be known as the mission that Sasuke failed.

"I don't know!" Chiro screamed, she struggled free and hugged her stomach while crouching down on to the ground.

Sasuke looked around the living room, and saw various paintings and book shelves.

"Smash the walls." He told his soldiers, "Smash everything, there could be passages hidden behind each shelf.

Chiro bit her lips in pain, "I need to go to the hospital."

"There's nothing wrong with you." Sasuke frowned in disgust.

"You don't understand, I need to go to the hospital, right now." Chiro curled into a ball as she shook fervently, "Take me to the hospital!"

Sasuke frowned at her, and choose to ignore her.

Chiro scrambled to get up despite the pain, and reached her bag to grab onto her phone. Sasuke saw it and immediately snatched it away, "Don't move. You don't want to get hit again, do you?"

Chiro almost went crazy. She lurched to Sasuke with force and threw both of them down onto the ground, "Give me that phone! I need to go to the hospital!"

Sasuke pushed her away by force, and she fell down onto the ground once again, this time, she ceased to move from the spot.

Two minutes later, Kakashi rushed into the house while yelling at Sasuke, "Why did you went ahead with this even without informing me? We made a plan for a reason-what is she doing on the ground?"

Kakashi recognized Chiro right away as he helped her up to a half sitting position, and saw that Chiro was crying. A sinking feeling rested in his stomach as he asked, "what's going on?"

"My stomach..." Chiro held onto her abdomen while tears fell without control, and Kakashi realized in horror as a pool of blood begin to accumulate beneath her. "my baby, my boy... Save him, save him..."

He quickly motioned two soldiers, "Help her, get her on to a car, and drive to the hospital!"

Sasuke tried to stop them, "Kakashi, you-"

"Shut up." Kakashi was cold and calm as he watched the two men carried Chiro outside, "You have no idea what you've done, pray for forgiveness, Uchiha."

Sasuke's face went pale.

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TBC

A/N: Sigh. I appreciate all reviews, good or bad. Unfortunately I don't read them due to my cowardice. I'm sorry. Any extreme suggestions please pm.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

I.

You did it all again  
You broke another skin  
My heart's an open door  
You've got all you came for

-Rae

II.

Six months later after the death of Pein, Akatsuki has been renovated into a completely loyal organization in the control of Uchiha Itachi. He eliminated all his enemies one by one with no roots attached. The Uchiha brothers rose and thrived in the midst of a threat of war, and the arms trade flourished.

Sakura was banished away from her mansion, her belongings and every penny she deserved. She signed the document that signed over all her property to her husband, and she was left with nothing.

Chiro, however, was also left with nothing. She lost her baby boy, and the doctor said the chance of her having a baby again diminished by seventy percent.

It was a late afternoon in autumn, as Itachi stood on the rooftop of a large sky scraper, over looking the city. Sasuke approached him tentatively.

"Brother, you should be resting. You just got out."

The sun is slowly setting on the horizon, and Itachi asked Sasuke, "Isn't it ironic, brother, that no matter how far up we've climbed, we are still subjected to rules of humanity?"

"Which rule are you referring to?" Sasuke asked, his eyes frowning.

"Survival." Itachi's eyes shifted to the sun set. "Another day has passed."

Sasuke kept quiet.

"The sun rises and fall... time always goes on..." Itachi sighed. "I'm so tired. I felt as if I have worked all my life's worth over these years."

"Itachi-"

Itachi raised a hand to stop him from speaking any further. "From now on, you can have it all. Isn't this what you wanted? Immense riches and power?"

Sasuke didn't answer.

Itachi's voice sounds weary as he exited the rooftop, leaving Sasuke with, "take over for me. I'm too tired to go on."

III.

Chiro heard Itachi's car pulled into the drive way before she saw him. She turned her head slightly and saw her room is messy and very unorganized. If she got up in the middle of the night to have some water she will undoubtly trip. This would piss Itachi off even more. She secretly give herself a high five, and the feeling doubled when she saw him standing at the door, frowning at the condition she's living in.

"You should hire some maids." He commented, "And your eating routine isn't that healthy."

Chiro's eyes blinked at him, "Get out."

Itachi acted as if he haven't heard it, as his ears automatically filtered out everything she said that made him unhappy.

"Look at this." He pulled out a massive tube from his brief case, and he took out a piece of rolled up paper. "This is our future home. What do you think?"

Chiro's response was, "You're blocking the TV."

Itachi moved aside obediently.

And the two fell in an awkward silence.

As if determined not to let any silence prevent him from his plans, Itachi continued, "Chiro, how do you feel about building this in Leon? We can build it right on the edge, towards Ash Bay."

"So you can make trades easier?" Her eyes shifted up.

"No." Itachi denied, "I won't be over looking any transactions."

She sneered.

He put away his designs and quickly moved to the tiny kitchen, "What would you like for dinner?"

Chiro sighed. She has long learnt that it's impossible to get rid of him when he doesn't want to be get rid of. There was a time when she screamed at the sight of either Uchihas, but one of them managed to force their way back into her life like a leech. She tried to avoid him, but managed to be cut off in all airports every time she tried to board. She tried to run away, just on to the streets-but it seemed there was security constantly watching over her. She's completely in his control, and she doesn't know how to get out.

Diedara visited her once when she was in the hospital. His words to her were, "Chiro, if I were you, I'd just give up."

"Why?"

"He... you should've known. He isn't a man with immense amount of patience. He only acted this way with you because his patience hasn't run out yet. If you keep on trying to avoid him, one day he will snap and trap you in a prison for the rest of your life. Wouldn't that be miserable?"

Chiro's response was heart breaking, "I'd rather kill myself when that day comes."

Dinner was served as usual, by the hands of the Uchiha himself. This time it was grilled fish with a creamy sauce. Some eggplant wrapped with thin strips of bacon and corn on the cob.

Both ate without a word.

After dinner, Itachi did the dishes and combing through the various mess and organize them back to where they originally belonged. Chiro watched him doing everything without complaint and was reminded of before. When they first met, he also acted like this. He did everything for her with the utmost carefulness. Back then, she blushed and tried to stop him before he gets carried away. Now she looked on with a cold eye and a frown. As if nothing else he does will ever compensate for what he did-or neglected to do.

After he finished, he stayed on the couch with her, and she raised an eyebrow, "Don't you have to go?"

"Not tonight." Itachi sighed, "I'm taking a break."

Chiro frowned, "A break? From what?"

"Work." Itachi's hands combed back his hair, "You don't want me to do it anymore, don't you."

"I don't give a fuck." Chiro said. "As long as you don't touch me, do whatever you want."

He sighed, standing up, "would you like a bath?"

She didn't answer, so he stood up and went to the bathroom.

When the bath was drawn, Itachi found Chiro left her couch. Instead she already went to bed, with the covers drawn above her head. He sighed once again to clean up the bath room, and then took a quick shower and heated some warm milk before returned to the bed.

"Chiro, milk?" He set the glass by her bedside and sit beside her. She took up the space that was straight in the middle and he find he is having trouble looking for space to lie down. He touched her, and to his surprise she didn't recoil from his touch.

An alarm suddenly set in his mind as he pry the covers off of her while examining her breathing-it's extremely faint.

He could fell himself fall into a desperate fear that he feared, quickly grabbing his cellphone, he dialed the number of the emergency services.

"Hello yes, I'm requesting an ambulance to 176 Rosarch rd right now, it's an emergency-"

He stopped talking because he saw the empty sleeping pill bottle on her bedside. He let out a deep and hollowed scream from the pit of his stomach, piercing through the entire house.

IV.

When Chiro woke up, the first thing she said was, "I didn't try to kill myself."

Itachi looked up at her with a pair of weary eyes, "We washed around thirty five sleeping pills out from your stomach."

"I didn't want to kill myself." She insisted. "I just wanted to sleep. It wasn't working, I just wanted to sleep...I took one after the other, I drank them down and thought I could rest a little, just a little... I felt so tired, I want to sleep..."

He got onto the bed with her and forced her into his arms, holding her waist in his arms. "Chiro... How would you feel if we turned the West Wing of our future home into an orphanage?"

"No." Chiro shook her head, "It's dangerous. It's near the bay, it's where you go to do business."

Itachi's finger traced her belly, "What do you want me to do? What can I do to make you forgive me?"

If this was a few month ago, she would've responded with a sarcastic comment either about turning back the time or take his own life. But at this point her mind has jumbled up into something she doesn't recognize, and her pains seemed to numb her body from the top down, and even her brains can't function normally. Her eyes blank as she told him, "I don't know, I really don't know."

He begin to tuck her hair back behind her ears. His fingers are gentle as he kissed her forehead and whispered, "I can't let you go."

She knows. A couple months ago, she tried to escape him by going into various shops and exited the back door. His men lost her because she discarded all her electronic devices and jewelry, while wearing nothing but the clothes on her back, she escaped from him.

Only for a while, because she hid in a small temple while Itachi flipped the entire city over trying to look for her. At last a small child reported he saw her going into the temple. She was napping on one of the benches behind a statue when she was yanked up by a man in black suit and sunglasses. Then many men came, and they escorted her to a limo, and drove her home.

When she came back, she saw the state he was in, and his frantic look and almost insane behaviour when he saw her safe and sound. He forced her to promise him not to leave again, and she refuses to do so. He grabbed her by the collar and yanked her to the top of their balcony while holding her on the rims of the terrace, "Chiro Arai, if you don't say it, I will rip you apart to pieces-"

And she broke down, crying. Her answer was, "you don't love me, Itachi, you don't love me at all-"

He had the sense to let her down and listen to her reason.

"You wanted to be a man free of debts. You have accumulated so much debt from your brother, and you're using me to pay it off. You paid it by gambling the life of my child, you had no right, you had no right!"

Her words devastated him, but he knew better than anyone that what she accused him isn't without logic. In fact it's probably the most probable reason why he would ever approach her after she lost the child. He has built an image around himself that he is ruthless, cold hearted and merciless murderer. There is no such thing as morals with him, and he has turned into a complete psychopath while climbing up flights of stairs all the way to the top. Somewhere along the way he lost his sight as to who he did it for, or who he did it with. He found himself loosing pathetically to Pein-because he maintained a spotless image in her mind while he cut her heart up beyond repair.

So he picked up a handgun lying in his pockets and coaxed her to grab onto the trigger with the softest and sweetest words.

"Shoot me." He said, directing her hand to his heart, "shoot me, right here."

Diedara saw the entire scene from below the terrace, and he cursed while quickly dialing Sasuke's number. Sasuke, having just landed in York, received a call that made him nervous beyond words. "Have a team of ambulance ready on standby!" He yelled into the phone.

"Shoot me, If that could smother out your hatred." Itachi gently placed her finger on the trigger, "Do it, dearest."

She did not know what she was thinking then. The entire thing was such a blur that she only remembered flashes of white light. There were voices below trying to stop both of them doing something crazy, but Itachi's orders forced them back, and she was left alone with him and the gun in her hands.

With a loud bang, the gun went off-and slowly the scene filtered her eyes with different shades of red.

She remember Sasuke climbing up on the terrace, along with Diedara and their men. She remembered them rushing him off down to the ambulance. She remembered the blood on her hands, dripping down her arm and staining her clothes.

The next thing she knew she was at the hospital, sitting on one of the benches with Sasuke beside her. A doctor wearing white coat exited and asked to speak with the relative. Sasuke walked up to him as the doctor explained the bullet just missed his heart, but it punctured a lung and smashed a couple of ribs.

Since he has healed, everyone was considerably colder towards her. But also because of that incident, she signed the paper, and they're officially married.

This must be the most painful and heartless marriage ever-well maybe except for Sasuke's marriage, which Chiro has heard it was equally painful.

Now, on the hospital bed where Chiro almost poisoned herself to death, Itachi told her, "you were right all along."

She turn to him, showing minimal interest.

"When I first approached you, I did want to get closer to Pein."

She fixated her gaze towards him while he continued. "Towards the end, I did want to kill him. I have to kill him because he was in the way. He murdered Hatake Sakumo, yet with no evidence to pin it upon him. I had to chose between him or Kakashi. Either one could be my stepping stone to success, but Kakashi ultimately won. He has no reason to betray me, while Pein's existence made everything else complicated. Including you."

Chiro didn't understand half of what he was talking about, but she chose to ignore it since they're in the past.

"I could've killed him in any other way. But I approached you-not because you could've helped, but because in my subconscious, you attracted me. I wanted you so much, but I repressed it to the point of insanity. You were more intelligent than I give you credit for, but on this matter you were wrong. Uchihas were not heartless. They love too much, too strongly, too fiercely-to the point where they would rip apart their precious ones just so that the pieces would belong to themselves..."

"I tried to let you go." He admitted to her, "I tried to set you free-but I can't do it. I can't. I would much rather watch you hurt me while staying in my arms than loosing touch with you."

"Every time you look at me, I go mad with tenderness." His lips caressed her fingers one by one, as is admiring a great treasure that would break if one breathes to heavily upon it.

"I'd rather you harm me, cut me open, kill me-than leaving me. As long as I am alive, as long as I am living this worthless, soulless life of mine, I cannot endure to let you go. My sanity is completely within the palms of your hands. I want you to look deep inside yourself, and find the little bit of forgiveness, and graciously spare me a bit, so we don't have to torture each other like this, in agony."

She finally cried in his arms, and holding onto her stomach. "I had a boy..."

He closed his eyes in pain.

Her sobs continued. "I miss him... I miss him so much. He could've been a little boy... he could've been mine..."

V.

Meanwhile, in an old clinic, Sakura endured through around thirty hours of labour without any medications or chemicals, finally giving birth to a beautiful and delicate looking blacked haired baby boy. She was so pleased that he was finally here that she did not give another thought on how she's going to support him, or if they are going to live on the streets. She only wanted to hold him and love him, and at the moment, she was the happiest girl in the world.

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TBC

A/N: Next chapter we jump back to the present. Thank you.

I didn't realize we almost reached 100 reviews. YAY!

Slow update due to schedule conflicts with life. However I despise those who gave excuse to not update because they're too busy, in my opinion it's not an excuse at all. I will try my best to keep updating and eventually finish this story. If I do not feel free to pm and throw my words back at me.


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: We see the first appearance of Karin here. And with Karin, there came a shit load of other complications. No kidding. So this chapter marks the beginning of the next phase of the story, which... of course, is also sad.

Chapter 15

I.

Come fly with me.

II.

It's almost Christmas, and that Christmas meant the annual party the Uchihas are hosting in Leon. Originally it's an charity event, but almost six years ago, when the elder Uchiha came to the city, he established a firm hold over major charity organizations in the city. He also became the chairman for various charities and non-profit organizations in the city. One would assume he must be a man of immense morals and ethics, but don't make the mistake he is to be taken lightly. To say that he has a code of ethics is highly misleading. He has none. Instead he has a circle-and that tiny circle only revolves around so few people he deem to be worthy that he places his life above theirs.

The charity itself was for the orphanage, and it's run by Shizune, a medical degree graduate and the family doctor of the Uchihas. She is one of the best in the city, as she studied under the legendary doctor Tsunade herself. When the Uchihas came to the city, Chiro approached the orphanage and and asked exactly how much money they need to make it through a comfortable winter. Shizune didn't question her at all as she repeated a figure. Itachi wrote the cheque without batting an eye. It was also the day when Chiro puked at the orphanage front desk, and Shizune hurried her into her clinc, and after initial examination, they discovered she was pregnant.

And Itachi wrote a second cheque for the orphanage-an astronomical figure that is large enough to build another orphanage on the other side of town, and so the creation of two largest orphanages came to being in Leon.

Itachi also provided a fund for outstanding high school children who wants to pursue their studies. There's a written agreement, however, that those who has their education paid full by the Uchihas must work within the Uchiha corp for two times the amount of time he or she spent in school. And the Uchiha owned practically a little bit of everything. They worked with the government, the militia, the entertainment industry... the list goes on.

This orphanage is one of the many organizations that the Uchihas organized that is also non-profit. Soon the children who used to belong in the orphanage begin to turn back and give back to the family by volunteering in the orphanage, and every winter it became a tradition for people who used to belong in this place came back from all around the world to celebrate Christmas. And soon it became a huge charitable party for everyone who participated. And that attracted homeless and poverty stricken people everywhere-and came the creation of the "food stand", where large pots and cauldrons of dishes are being cooked continuously for seven days through the holidays. Rice, stew, pasta, meat.. There's all sorts of food and the stove never goes out. The Uchihas had security everywhere, preventing riots from happening. Soon, this attracted some major families and who also wanted to contribute, so they came too. Over the past six years, the Christmas Party became an annual feast for everybody everywhere of all classes and status. Celebrities came to volunteer for public image, politicians come to pull votes... everybody was welcome.

One of Erika's earliest memories was standing like a little princess during the party, and people from all over the place came to look at her and showered her with the most extravagant gifts possible. She loved the feeling of being loved, and she's certain this Christmas party is going to cheer Hikari up. HIkari cheered up considerably lately. He begin to talk to everyone, and just last week he smiled at her. She was extremely careful as to not hurt her feelings. She felt he was way mature and understanding than she is, and even though it made her uncomfortable how her mother dotes on him, she can understand to share.

Deidara came to pick her up from school today instead of Naruto. She knew Diedara hated looking after her when he's been forced to. If he saw her in a party he would love to play with her and entertain for a while, but usually when Itachi assign Deidara on child services, it was a form of punishment. He can't screw it up because it's the precious Uchiha princess, and he can't give Itachi the satisfaction of him actually liking interacting with children. It's an embarrassing, for a man who lived under rain of bullets and cartons of drugs to suddenly switch environments and prefer the change.

This time, however, there was a complication. When Deidara and the Uchiha family chauffer came to the Academy, he was called directly into the Dean's office. It was a large office furnished with heavy drapes and an large oak desk.

"What is it?" Deidara stared at Iruka, who more or less ran the Academy. Beside him stood an angry looking father and his pretentious boy, who has a black eye.

"There has been... a situation." Iruka sighed. "Come in!"

And the door opened, revealing a Erika and Hikari, standing side by side.

"Tell us exactly what happened." Iruka motioned.

And behind the kids, emerged a plump lady, who apparently is the school cafeteria lunch lady.

"Well." The lady sighed while eyeing both the parent and Deidara, "We were serving lunch for everyone. And Osa Honda here..." She motioned the boy with a black eye, "... didn't not like to eat the more fattened side of his pork. So he cut that part out and left it on the table. Hikari thought it was a waste, so he picked it up and ate it-and ... some boys were laughing at him, I suppose. Uchiha Erika here, ran over with her ... what's that device called, an iPad tiny? and started smashin' the other boys."

Deidara stared.

Iruka rubbed his forehead as Osa's father begin to accuse, "I know the Uchihas have money, but their kid can't start smashing other children! What the hell are they teaching this spoil kid..."

Erika moved so fast that everybody stared at her as if she was the eighth wonder of the world. She grabbed a heavy looking paper weight from Iruka's desk and flung at the man while screaming so fiercely that it almost deafened the people present. a series of screaming and yelling and crying occurred. Finally Iruka recovered from his astonishment and yelled, "Enough, enough!"

Diedara quickly stepped in, "I agree. Enough is enough. Now, first of all, are you two hurt?" He motioned the two Uchiha kids. They both shook their heads. Hikari lowered his while Erika stared at Honda and his father with intense dislike in her eyes. Honda sobbed continuously, which make Erika snap, "Oh, shut up! I twisted my ankle and I didn't even cry."

This was actually true. Mainly because it happened a month ago while riding her "unicorn". The fall was her own fault because she tried to grab onto the fake horn and Frank snapped her off of him. Because it was her own fault, she shed tears without blinking and didn't whimper at all. If it was not her fault, she'd scream her head off.

"Well, as long as nobody is hurt." Deidara sighed. "Erika, your father will hear about this."

"Yes, I think I should schedual a parent teacher conference with one of Erika's guardians and Honda-san. We can really talk this over." Iruka sighed once more. "Please-"

"So what the fuck is this supposed to mean? She smashed my kid and she gets to go free?" Honda stared at them.

"What do you want?" Deidara pulled out the company cheque book, "how much do you want?"

Honda yelled, "This isn't about money! I can afford to send my kid to school here, I'm not poor!"

Diedara rolled his eyes and said, "look dude, I'm not really in charge of these two here. If you have any complaint, you should call Uchiha Itachi. I would gladly give you his number." He pulled out his phone.

Honda's face went a little green as he mumbled, "I'll... I'll wait for the conference."

Itachi's reputation exceeds his impression. This was the man who was so beautiful he seduced an important government official when he was young and killed him in his sleep. This was the man whose famous trademark rumour was that he sold so much fire arms that he could singlehandedly start another world war. This was the man who has a secret army so elite that they can assassin anybody in the world if he so chooses. This was the man who befriended anybody who was anybody in this country. This is the man who tried drugs when he was barely a teen for the ability of control, and this was the man who flattened out the entire Akatsuki for a woman.

They are all some variation from the truth, and nobody doubted them.

Deidara bid goodbye to the lunch lady and Iruka, and hustled the two kids into the limo.

Nobody said anything during the car ride, except for Erika, who immediately commented, "I need a new iPad mini."

Deidara rolled his eyes and mentally added another reason to his list of "why I'm never starting a family". He personally thought what Itachi did to have what he has now is practically impossible. But then again... Itachi himself is an impossible force of being. He would never be able to suffer though the pains he did, and he recall, he had a gun shot wound and had to be taken to Shizune in the middle of the night. Before she performed surgery, he asked, "Is this going to hurt?"

"A little." She replied.

"How much?" He asked.

"About as same as Uchiha Itachi after he got married."

Deidara rolled his eyes and fainted.

Needless to say that after Itachi heard this, he assigned him to many child services duties.

They entered their mansion, and discovered Itachi isn't home. Instead it was Sasuke who sat in the living room. Deidara silently cursed, for he personally thought either brother is extremely annoying to deal with. But at least he doesn't have to deal with the kids, so he dumped them on Sasuke with a, "hey dude, here are the two brats. Oh and they got into a fight at school. Parent teacher conference comin' up. I gotta go... do something important. Bye."

And he ran out before Sasuke would bother to say anything.

So Sasuke stared at the kids, with the chauffeur who stood awkwardly behind them and carrying their backpacks.

"What happened?" Sasuke snapped.

The chauffeur quickly give a detailed account of what exactly happened with a slight bias towards Erika. The two kids stood with their head lowered as Sasuke consumed the information and stared at them without saying a word.

It's a very effective way of intimidation. Erika is used to it, because her dad does it all the time. Hikari, on the other hand, was not. But he just dislike Sasuke in general, so he resolves not to talk to him.

"The only worst possible outcome..." Sasuke began, "would be if either of you got hurt."

They didn't speak.

"Not because I care about your well being." He said, "but because it's an embarrassment to the name itself."

Hikari then raised his head up and stared at him with intense hatred, "you're not my father. I'm not an Uchiha."

Sasuke stood up, and Erika immediately pushed Hikari back behind her while pulling out her pocket knife secretly tucked around her waist and held it expertly (well, as expert as an almost six year old Uchiha heiress could be) in front of her.

Sasuke's anger is diminished almost immediately by Erika's stance. He made almost laughed, "protective, aren't you?"

Erika stared at him and said very slowly, "he's mine to what my father is to you."

Annoyance immediately rose in Sasuke's chest. He sat back down and waved his hand, "get out of my sight."

Erika grabbed on Hikari's hands and ran upstairs, where she knew her mother was. Perhaps Erika has inherited too much of her genes from Itachi. Everything she said to her uncle was with a purpose, and she knew her words and actions hurts her uncle more than she could understand. She has a satisfaction from it, however, as she came to an understanding of how sad Hikari was, and she felt she should hurt Sasuke verbally as much as possible to gain it back. She momentarily forgot, though, that her uncle was the one who was there and provided everything she needed when both of her parents were gone. She Skyped with him more often than she did with anyone, and she used to call him just to sing a lullaby.

Chiro was upstairs planning the Christmas Party. Every year it gets bigger and bigger, with more and more people RSVP'd to come. She also estimated there will be more homeless people from other cities traveling here for the hot meals. She may need to expand the pots and pans, maybe hire some more chefs.

"Mommy." Erika knocked on her door.

"Come in!" Chiro said while she scrolled through her spreadsheet.

Erika dragged Hikari inside. She jumped Chiro and kissed her cheeks twice. Chiro giggled while she nuzzled against her precious daughter. She then turned to Hikari and opened her arms, "Hikari?"

Hikari trudged up slowly and symbolically placed his arms around her. Chiro didn't care as she kissed him on his forehead and hugged him affectionately brushed his hair aside, "we need to get you a haircut soon!"

Hikari said, "Mmm."

"So, what happened at school today?" Chiro asked, she does everyday. And everyday Erika tells her some interesting anecdote of what happened, which made everybody laugh. Come to think of it, Erika has never told Chiro anything sad-only happy stories. Erika then spent the next five minutes telling Chiro about her class pet koala imported from Sylvan. they placed the koala in a greenhouse, and she has researched everything on koalas, and found that they sleep twenty hours a day. The rest two hours are for feeding, and the last two they sit and stare at tree trunks. Koalas don't even have a natural predator. The most frequent death they face is that they grabbed onto their arms and thought it was a branch-and they fall to their death.

Chiro laughed at that because Erika told it in a humors way. It made Hikari laughed too. But Hikari was about to open his mouth, "Aunt-"

"We have to go! I think I hear daddy coming home!" Erika grabbed Hikari's hand and dragged him out the room before he could say anything else.

Hikari whispered, "why didn't you tell her about what happened at lunch?"

"Oh, I made a deal with daddy that I tell him the bad news and leave the good ones for mommy." Erika shrugged. "He told me repeatedly when I first started talking. I think that's how I learned how to lie."

"..."

"Come on, let's go down the East stairs, I don't want to see ojiisan."

She turned around to see Hikari bending down, and sobbing.

"What's wrong?" Erika turned back and patted on his head.

"I... I used to tell my mommy only good stories too." Hikari cried, "I only... but when she asks me if I got into any trouble, I never lie. But.. then she gets so sad... I get sad too. I don't want to apologize, they bullied me first, but their parents bully mommy, and I have to apologize... I miss her... I miss her..."

Erika repeated what she says to him almost every single day, "you'll see her again. I promise you, you'll see her soon."

Hikari nodded obediently. He wiped his tears away before standing up to hold onto Erika's hand.

"See this path?" Erika pointed in front of them, while in actuality there was nothing but Persian carpet, "every step we take, we shall do them together."

III.

Erika sincerely cared for her cousin. Despite that he is almost a year older than her, she had a protective streak that she inherited from the Uchiha side.

One could determine how strong their genes were just by looking at her. She is a female version of her father and her uncle. She will stop at nothing to get what she want and she resort to anything and everything to get it. However, she has yet to learn the way of the world, and she has a lot more to experience.

This, however, was not the first time Erika stood up for Hikari.

Hikari cannot adjust to swift change in environment. His class are filled by children who came from a rich background. They mature slower and and they are generally more aggressive. Many of them laugh at him because of the way he eats, the way he speaks and his astonishment at things normal to their daily life. To be fair though, kids should not have smart phones at such an early age. Hikari was shocked at the existence of such thing, and he made a fool of himself.

People begin to distant him, and a new type of loneliness enveloped him as he prayed for his mother to come and pick him up. He struggled with the idea of having to live in a huge house forever and never seeing his mother again. Yet he does not want to go back to their way of life, because he knows deep down in his heart how much his mother had sacrificed for him. Things that came so easy to his new family were like a dream to his old one. Yet he yearned for his mother and her presence.

This was soothed a little, however, by his aunt.

He knows what happened, because Erika told him. She told him, "I had an older brother, but he died. In my mother's eyes, you're him."

He was also told, to never mention the desire to find his birth mother in front of her.

Everybody was tip toeing around her, and he was trying very hard to please her, and he discovered it doesn't take much. As long as he lets her hug him, and sometimes she cries for no reason, and sometimes she asks him a million questions if he needed anything. Sometimes she would bake small deserts for him in shapes of sport balls, and her eyes would glow when he eat them and tell her that they tasted good.

He found her extremely sad, her whole sphere, her whole existence of being. He found that he couldn't stay with her long because her affection felt suffocating. He felt if he stayed with her more and more, he would be terrified to loose any other memory of his own mother. The entire thing confused him and filled him with mixed emotions, for he knew that his mother was outside in the harsh winter, prehaps freezing, while he sat inside and enjoys a dish that was decorated with leaves hemmed with gold.

"I miss my mother." Hikari told Erika, his eyes on the verge of crying.

"We will find her." Erika replied, her eyes determined. "I swear."

IV.

Karin stepped off the plane with a frown on her face.

She is met with the moist and humid Leon air. The air that she grew up with, and the air that she grew to hate. She hoped never to return to this city a few years ago, but situation changed, and she must make an appearance and put a stop to things.

Naruto was at the luggage area. He took hers and sighed, "Karin-"

"Stop." Karin raised a hand. "I know what you're going to say."

"Do you."

"I do." Karin sighed too, "I'm sorry. Mostly I'm just sorry you found out."

"Well, if you're not going to tell him..."

"You won't either." Karin glared at him fiercely. Naruto looked away uncomfortably.

"Why would you want to torture the two of us?" Karin asked with a sad expression, "Naruto, his heart doesn't belong to me anymore... I doubt it belonged to anyone."

Naruto looked up at the sky before getting into the limo. "Remember when we were all still teenagers?"

"Mhmm?"

"How did our life became so fucked up?"

Karin laughed, "it's what we wanted, right? Ambition, power, wealth..."

"I didn't want this." Naruto spoke up, "I wanted to be stronger. I wanted to take care of people. I want to create peace."

"Funny how that turned out. Maybe you should try your hand at politics."

Naruto made a disgruntled face, and Karin laughed, "Brother?"

"Yea."

"I..." Karin wanted to tell him something important, something that shouldn't be said. Something that she has shouldered herself for a very long time and telling him would only burden him more but there isn't anything he could do. He would only be more distressed. Seeing Naruto distressed would make everyone else distressed too, since he's the least distressed person known to man. She sighed inwardedly before deciding not to tell him. Perhaps she won't ever tell him... and he will just have to find out.

"Nevermind." She smiled sweetly at him and leaned in to give him a hug, "I'm glad I finally saw you after all these months. It's going to be a wonderful holiday."

Naruto grinned, and his eyes sparkled as he said, "Right. First stop-ramen shop!"

"... Oh my god, how many bowls of that stuff can you eat before getting sick of it..."

"Never! Never! It's my number one love!"

"Go marry it! I'll perform the ceremony..."

"Wouldn't that be... uh...sexual ... cannibalism?"

"I didn't know you knew what those words meant..."

"Well Sasuke said I should read more..."

"For once, he's right..."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

TBC

A/N: Alright people. I know this might be disappointing, but I'm just going to clarify right off the bat that Karin is not an inherently evil character-but she is not a good one either. It would be very boring if she's a flat out evil bitch "the other woman" who tries to steal Sasuke away from Sakura, right? And let's face it. It's a cliche and so predictable that eventually it just gets boring. She's has a lot more potential in her, and I intend to write her into a character that caused everybody-and I meant everybody- problems. So she can be the antagonist in that sense.

She came from a hard life, and basically she has been treated as a tool by most men. Let's not forget.

She has an amazing role to play. Let's wait and see :)

Another thing... The role of Erika. She may be a little too Mary Sue-esque. But consider how strong Itachi's genes are and how he accomplished so little at such a young age, it wouldn't be too far of a fetch for me to describe Erika as the way she is at the moment.

Have a happy summer, everybody :)


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: I just realized this story lacks... structure. I seem to be typing something in one chapter and went off on a tangent. I will try to remain on course for the sake of a structure. But I suggest giving up for looking structure in this chapter, as it's as mess as the ones before it.

Chapter 16

I.

"Nothing thicker than a knife's blade separates happiness from melancholy."

-Woolfe

II.

It's not that Chiro didn't try to find Sakura. She did, she had her husband's men trying to track down the pink haired woman, but it seemed like she evaporated out of thin air. Sakura was fast, swift, and clever. She did not deliberately avoid security, but she dislike being watched. Besides, she doesn't have a root now. She sleeps on the streets and drinks in the water fountains and ate gas station food. She goes to a bathhouse for a shower and the laundry matt for cleaning. She has a backpack with the bare neccesities, and just a week before Christmas, she it contained a gun and a knife.

The gun and knife are new additions in her backpack. She worked temp jobs to gather a bit of money-not a lot, but enough to buy weapons. And thanks to the Uchiha family, weapons are easy enough to get.

She knows it's creepy, but she stalked Konoha Academy from afar. She just wanted one glance-one glance was enough. And that's all she got. She saw her son wearing crisp uniforms from pure cotton and sweaters of cashmere, and his white collared shirt doesn't have a single speck of dirt on him. He followed his cousin around, and his cousin chatted something animatedly to him, which made him smile.

That was enough.

She then turned around and got back onto the main street. She went to the drug store and bought a bottle of hair dye. Black hair dye, and some make up. Something drastic and animated. Something that would cover her original clean and unhealthy face completely and transform her into a different woman. She then bought food-a lot of it. She ate and ate until she was very full, until she felt like she had the energy to do everything and anything in the world...

And then she waited.

III.

Hinata has been avoiding the Hyuuga family for almost two month now. That had to be a world record, because Ino was so close to dragging her down into the hands of Neji that she found herself praying for Kami more often than she would've liked.

Meanwhile Hinata lived in Ino's apartment, and they communicated by hand written notes passed through bars and stores. She found a job as a cat-sitter for an elderly rich lady across the hallway, and she rather enjoyed it. The quiet serendipity of being alone and discover small joys in life. Like burning bacon for the first time, stitching up a hole in her dress and pricked her fingers, or laughing so hard and soundlessly at a romantic comedy TV show that she fell on the floor from the couch while holding her stomach.

During the first two weeks. Ino was followed. Anywhere and anytime. She had a couple of contacts with Hinata during this time, and they came so close that Neji decided to follow Ino himself. And Ino knew it, so she decided to cut off from interacting with Hinata for a while.

Neji followed Ino everywhere-and he meant, everywhere. To her mother's, her bath house, her work, her second cleaning job, her temporary living quarters... He followed her around so much that he was sure he knew everything about her. He was sure he is able to recite everyone of her habits, and observe her temper, and her react to her reaction. He confronted her more than once, saving her from people who took advantage of her. He offered her money but she didn't take them. He even tried to seduce her-and he's not a strange of seduction, but Ino held on her ground firmly and refuse to budge.

"Why, tell me, how could you possibly-ever-intend to hide from us? Once we find her, and believe me, we will, you will receive nothing."

Ino glared at him and said icily. "You are a cold hearted son of a bitch."

And Kiba whistled. Earning a murderous glare from Neji.

Meanwhile Ino ran away. She didn't bother running fast, though, knowing Neji will find her and start the surveillance process all over again.

However, around two weeks before Christmas, she could acutely sense that Neji was no longer following her. She was happy, of course, and for the first time after a month, she returned to her cozy little apartment, where she saw Hinata with a table full of easy and hot home made meals waiting for her.

The purple haired girl smiled warmly at Ino, and said gently that she contacted the Hyuuga house head and paid off all of her debts and her mother's future nursing home fees. She then gently brushed Ino's blond hair aside from her face and kissed her forehead, saying she finally found herself, and she's going to gather up the courage to tell Naruto that she loves him.

Ino cried and cried, and the two girls hugged each other while spending last day together in the tiny little apartment. Both girls enjoyed the long lost sister love they feared she might never experience. Both promised each other to see each other after the holidays, and always keep in touch.

Ino thought that chapter in her life had ended. She thought she would never see that ridiculously handsome looking man with the coldest eyes she has ever seen again. She thought he has given up, and she was wrong. But the next time she see him will not be planned, because she will be standing in a door way while staring at him fucking someone else.

IV.

Itachi stared at the two small children in front of him with a placid expression while his chauffer told him everything.

He then stared at them without moving. His gaze was so fierce that Hikari immediately removed eye contact, but Erika kept staring back.

He was amused, but more angry than amused, so he kept on glaring at her. And the little girl glared right back with out blinking or even a muscle. She was slowly assessing his mood and temper on his face. She could tell with the slightest facial expression from him which mood direction he's going in, and obviously this isn't a good one, because Itachi narrowed his eyes slightly at her, and uttered a simple question.

"Is this true?"

Erika screamed.

She screamed so loud as if she was being murdered. She screamed for her mother while kept on staring at her father. She screamed and screamed that even Hikari put his hands around his ears to avoid the deafening baby banshee sound. And of course Chiro stumbled through Itachi's study's door as if a lion on fire has been chasing her.

Neither Itachi or Erika moved in the slightest before Chiro came in. But when Erika sensed her mother at the door, she immediately stopped screaming and turned around to curl in her arms while she frowned and cooed, "baby, what's the matter?"

Erika didn't make a fuss, or did she cry or gain sympathy. Simply she said, "I don't like daddy anymore."

"Is that so?" Chiro shot a look at Itachi, whose heart did a slight leap whenever that look was presented to him.

Erika nodded and hid her face within her mother's arms, refusing to look at Itachi.

Itachi suppressed a sigh, he motioned the chauffer to retell the story of what happened at the Academy even knowing full well what her response will be.

He wasn't wrong, because Chiro's response was hugging Hikari in her arms while her tears threatened to fall. "Oh, poor baby. Those boys are so mean... Hikari, don't worry, at the Academy you and Erika watch out for each other, right? How about we switch schools? How do you feel about a personal lunch box?"

Hikari suddenly realized, women who married Uchiha men are practically the same in that they're over protective-yet helpless. His aunt is exactly like his mother, with endless sorrow over flowing that filled his little heart with hopeless anger.

"Chiro." Itachi sighed, "we need to discipline them."

"Of course." Chiro nodded, for she knew the importance of not spoiling a child. "You two are grounded."

If Itachi made it a habit to roll his eyes, he would've done it right about now. He doesn't, however, thus he took a further step by saying, "Chiro, why don't you go check if dinner is almost served, and I will talk to them."

"No!" Erika yelled.

Itachi glared at her daughter unmistakably this time, which made her jump. Chiro frowned at him, and Itachi promised, "I won't touch them. I won't harm them, you know I won't."

"Yes but, you can scare them half to death by just looking at them." Chiro knew exactly what kind of man her husband is.

"Chiro." Itachi lowered his voice an octave. Which made she shiver, knowing if she stays any longer she will have to pay for it dearly in bed later that night. She quickly kissed Erika and Hikari's cheeks and said, "it's for your own good, dears."

The chauffer and Chiro quickly left the room as the two kids stood together and holding hands with one another while staring up at Itachi with obvious fear in their eyes. This amused him and annoyed him at the same time. He finally saw what was so annoying about his daughter that pissed Sasuke off for an entire after noon.

"Erika." Itachi sat down to maintain eye level with them.

"Yes, father." Erika said, she averted his gaze.

"It's never a good idea to use your whatever was at hand to hit other kids."

She replied obediently, "I understand, father."

Itachi then said, "Erika, protecting your cousin is admirable. But protecting him against another member of your family whom you know loves both of you very much is very immature and disappointing. You have more sense than that, you should know."

Erika didn't speak for a few seconds before lowering her head. Soon a small sob could be heard from the bottom of her throat. She gulped and whimpered, "I understand, father."

"Alright. Now go join your mother."

Erika looked up in surprise, and shifted her gaze towards Hikari, who looked equally startled.

"Go." Itachi shot her a stern look.

She immediately let go of Hikari's hand, and whispered in his ear quickly, "I'll be right outside, listening in. When you get scared, just scream."

Hikari nodded slightly while trembling. She patted him on the head before trudging slowly towards the door. Her father didn't rush her as he waited for her to close the door after.

Itachi then begin, "Hikari."

Hikari muttered an inaudible, "yes sir."

"I'm your uncle." Itachi softened his voice. "You should never be afraid of me. Like you should never be afraid of your father. You should respect us, yes. But fear isn't something you should hold within your heart."

The small boy whimpered, "yes sir."

Itachi then waited for a few moments to formulate his next sentences. "The reason I asked Erika to leave, is because it is not yet the time for her to hear this. She is a girl and you are a boy, you should be more mature. She is irrational and often her actions are overruled by her emotions. You can't let this happen. Always hide your feelings, do you understand?"

The boy looked up with a slightly confused face and said, "yes."

"And remember." Itachi closed his eyes as he let out a breath, "there are other ways to get revenge other than Erika's ridiculous attempt at brutal force."

Hikari frowned, "Sir?"

The elder Uchiha stood up and decided, "start reading. I will assign specific books and a private tutor for you from now on. Also, I want you to start taking self defence courses."

Hikari's eyes sparkled as he nodded fervently, "Yes, sir!"

Itachi finally smiled as he said, "that settles it. But you must learn how to be flexible. During the parent-teacher meeting, when that boy apologizes to you, I want you to apologize back and be grateful."

The boy's eyes diminished as he asked, "do I have to?"

"Yes." Itachi waved his hand tiredly with a tone hinting this discussion is over, "sincerity is not an requirement, but you must do it. Similarly to Erika, she must apologize to him first. Run along now. And be careful opening the door. Erika might fall over."

And that's when Itachi upgraded from being an annoying and frightening uncle to an entity close to Kami in Hikari's eyes.

V.

Many guests begin to flood the Uchiha Mansion the next day. Most of important member of Uchiha corp stayed in their usual guest rooms. Kakashi also came, with several of his men. What surprised both Chiro was the Suna family. Both Garra and Temari arrived the next day, bringing her various gifts from the desert. She was over joyed by this surprise; she and Temari talked for hours when they saw each other. Temari cooed over the children, while both are amazed by this exotic woman with a large fan and mischievous smile as if always plotting something.

Soon the day turned into a huge hang out at the backyard, with various snow sports equipments. All of them first organized a snowball fight in which everybody must participate. The rules are simple. Never get hit by a snowball. The moment you are, you're disqualified.

Chiro, the children and the servants watched the entire fight from the large art storage room on the attic. It give a superb view of everyone-and it was perhaps the most intense snowball fight anyone has ever seen. All of them having had extensive military or defence training, they used every trick in the book to avoid getting caught. Of course to make it fair, the leaders of each district are required to wear a colored cover shirt while others could wear whichever color they want. Itachi and Sasuke both wore black shirt with the family crest printed at the back, while Gaara and Sasori wore red ones. Kakashi wore a navy blue coat, and Neji wore a dark purple jacket. It's very easy to spot them, but each hid extremely well. Either they cover themselves with snow all the time, or hid behind snow forts or thick snow covered tree branches.

It was exciting and fun, as the Suna twins are the ones who dropped out first, having not used to the wet climate. Naruto didn't have to, but he insisted in wearing a bright yellow jumpsuit, so he was hit almost within the first two minutes of the game. Neji was distracted, so he was also out. The fight between the Uchiha brothers and Kakashi finally dragged out long enough that Chiro called everybody in for a buffet style dinner.

Temari changed from her snowball fighting outfit into her dinner wear. She sighed as the guys emerged from the showers and whispered to Chiro, "girl, you're so lucky."

"Oh?" Chiro rolled her eyes.

"Look at him." Temari giggled while motioning Itachi. Who was buttoning the last couple of buttons on his collar white shirt while entering the drawing room. His hair a little wet, as a bit of water dripped down onto his lean hips. He was obviously in a hurry, but looked relieved as he entered the room and his eyes met his wife's.

Chiro smiled at him, to which he smiled, back, and Temari commented, "Chiro, he's sex on two legs."

"..."

"His brother isn't bad either. Does he have a girlfriend?"

"He does, actually." Chiro sighed. "His... well this entire family is complicated. I advise you not to get in."

"Roger." Temari winked, "what about that young general? Hatake?"

"Oh he's all yours. Although I have a slight suspicion he's bisexual." Chiro squinted at the image of Kakashi who is helping himself to an order of ton-katsu.

"... Damn, that's hot."

Chiro laughed, "Temari, there's something really wrong with you. You and your sick tastes..."

She laughed with her, "Oh trust me, I'm not the most twisted person here."

"Who is?" Chiro was intrigued, but immediately was sullen, "don't tell me it's Itachi. I can't handle the truth."

"No, he's twisted, but not sick." She shivered, "you know sometimes he's so twisted it frightens me. Did I tell you the story of how he befriended us? He greeted us with perfect manners while we caught him holding-"

"-holding your father's chopped off head." Chiro sighed, finishing the sentence, "don't remind me. Tell me, who's the sickest?"

"Mhmm..." Temari looked around the roomful of overflown testosterone and answered with a calm voice, "that guy."

Chiro was surprised, "Neji?"

"Yes." The blond haired girl nodded, "I'm sure."

"What? Why? How?"

Temari chewed on her food thoughtfully before carefully answering, "he has a desperation in him that is pushing him over the edge-if he wasn't there already. I think he's falling fast... and he won't stop until he hit rock bottom."

"I don't understand you." Chiro frowned, "talk in commoner's language, please, your grace."

Temari laughed before flinging a piece of rib bone across the room, and it landed directly into the trash bin.

Meanwhile Sasuke frowned at the two women sitting by the far corner, giggling while staring at them. "What are they talking about?"

"About us." Itachi answered naturally, "didn't you get used to this already? Or is your girlfriend shielding you away from the female population now?"

Kakashi raised an eyebrow, "you're still going out with that redhead? No offence, Naruto."

"None taken." Naruto knew exactly what his half sister is capable of.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at them. Which made the men exchange knowing looks with one another. This annoyed Sasuke to no end. So he shot each of them death glares before taking his food to another room to eat in peace. The men laughed after his departure and the topic switched onto the twins as Naruto yelped, "will you two stop doing everything at the same time and same pace? It's freaking me out!"

"We didn't mean to." Gaara and Sasori both said at the same time, with that innocent and blank expression on their face that it's impossible to stay mad at them.

"It is indeed a little uncanny." Itachi agreed, "consider you guys have been separated for a long time, yet the connection is ever present."

"Isn't it the same for you and Sasuke?" Neji asked.

"It's not." Itachi sighed while answering politely, "our bond didn't come free."

Everybody had the sense not to ask any further, and Kakashi quickly switched the topic to the preparation of Christmas charity dinner.

In one of the galleries, Sasuke was eating alone by the fireplace. He requested a cup of tea to be brought up to him, and to his surprise, it was Erika who came in, holding the little tray with her tiny hands. Sasuke quickly stood up and helped relieve her stress, for it was in danger of spilling over.

"Uncle." She opened her arms, and Sasuke sighed before hugging the little girl in his arms.

"I'm sorry." She whimpered, "I really didn't mean to."

Sasuke didn't say anything. Instead he give a small smile before setting her down on one of the chairs across from his.

She therefore continued, "I... I just want every single person in my family to be happy-"

"I understand." He patted her hair.

"-And I really wish you could feel the same way."

His hand stopped awkwardly in mid-air. The moment was interrupted, however, as one of the servants knocked on the door, "Uchiha-san, your fiancee is here."

"Oh my God." Erika's eyes widened as she jumped down from her chair and ran for the door, "Ojiisan, I want to see this-"

And downstairs, Karin stood at the door.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

TBC

A/N: Yeah they're still engaged. I'm happy to say, not for long. This story is getting more and more out of hands. Maybe major revision needed.

Very sorry for the late update. Very glad for the long reviews. More updates coming up early next week.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

I.

"I don't know what they're called, those space between seconds, but I think of you in those intervals."

-Plascenia

II.

Karin did stood at the door, but-there was someone else there too, and she's standing in front of Karin, almost as if acting as a buffer.

It was Hinata, and she's shivering in the cold.

Itachi let them in immediately, and then many servants begin to tend to the two. Neji immediately rushed over to Hinata and asked if she has contacted the main house, she reassured him.

Karin's eyes traced over everyone in the drawing room as a maid dried her hair. Sasuke was at the far corner, but he refused to move as he stared straight into her.

She lowered her eyelids and said to the maid, "I need a shower." Turning to Chiro, she asked, "May I, Uchiha-san?"

"Of course." Chiro answered monotonously. "Rika will direct you."

"Certainly." The maid led Karin out of the drawing room.

Everybody begin to crowd around Hinata, asking where she has been during these past couple of month. Neji practically combed through the city looking for her, and the Hyuugas are very angry with the Uchihas, consider Leon is part of their jurisdiction. Yet Itachi did not even try to find Hinata. Neji secretly suspected that even if Itachi saw Hinata on the streets, he would smile at her and bid her good day before walking off.

Neji knew exactly what Itachi is thinking, but he is a little annoyed at Itachi's selfishness. Everything he does, like Neji, are for the benefits of either himself or those who he is committed to. Looking for Hinata will place Itachi in a bad light, and if Hinata really did become the successor of the Hyuuga legacy, Itachi would make sure she remembered there was one time she run away from home to seek refuge in Leon, and Itachi was gracious enough to let her without being discovered.

This isn't what's making Neji uncomfortable at the moment, for he's hiding something from everyone else that he knew it's going to blow up in his face one day. Perhaps soon, perhaps later-but it's coming, and he dread it enough to make sure to hide it as long as possible.

Itachi took two glasses of wine before offering it to his brother. When his eyes met Sasuke's, he sighed and asks, "What did you do?"

Sasuke sneered, "what made you ask?"

"Please." Itachi rolled the last syllable of the word on his tongue slightly longer, and tapped on the glass. "I don't know if you're insulting my intelligence or you ignorance."

"Did anyone tell you how insufferable you are in the art of conversation?"

"Never." Itachi said truthfully.

Sasuke looked over to the crowd in the middle of the room, where Naruto was telling his last big adventure to Hinata, and she listened with such intensity that everybody knew (maybe except for Naruto himself) that in her eyes, there's only him.

"How lucky is it, to be blessed with ignorance." Sasuke sighed.

Itachi followed his gaze and then turn to examine his brother's face. Without moving, Sasuke told him, "stop looking at me."

"I did not know I am forbidden to look at my own brother."

"Not when you're trying to analyze me in every possible way you know how."

"That's a stretch, my foolish little brother." Itachi sipped his wine, "now tell me, what is troubling our little prince."

Sasuke snapped, "If I go to you for advice, what you just referred to me as will definitely change my mind."

Itachi merely smiled as he waited for Sasuke to confess. It's not often that he coup up in his feelings that he desperately wanted to tell someone about it. Let alone telling Itachi. But come to think of it, there really is no one else to talk to. He usually keeps everything inside. There are things in which he and his brother never talk about, like Sakura or what happened to Itachi's wife. Then there are things that he did that he doesn't know if it's the right move, and he needs to say something.

Finally he begin, "I... I did something horrible."

Itachi contemplated his in his head while assessing exactly what would be "horrible" in Sasuke's mind. He then deduced it must be someone who was once kind to him. Sasuke would not call what he did to Sakura horrible. He call it justified. Then it's something that Itachi has yet to discover. Itachi vaguely wondered if he's getting too old to get a hold on everybody around him. Pushing this aside, he asked gently, "I'm guessing... it didn't happen yet?"

"Not yet." Sasuke answered, "but I planted a seed. It's going to explode."

"Metaphor?"

"Yes."

After a couple of minutes, Itachi asked, "Sasuke-you still have a chance to stop it. Do you want to?"

This time his answer was immediate. Sasuke stared at Karin without blinking as he said, "no."

"Then let it blow up." Itachi replied. "We... don't have enough kindness in our hearts to tolerate betrayal."

Sasuke tore his eyes away from Itachi and asked with seriousness. "If you discovered your wife has been cheating on you..."

Itachi looked as if he had heard the biggest joke in the world. And Sasuke glared in annoyance, "humour me."

"Alright." The elder Uchiha slowly finished his drink before opening his mouth. "This has happened before. We all have our different definition of 'cheating', but as you know. I stole her."

"Pardon me?" Sasuke frowned.

"I stole her away." Itachi repeated. "She was something that has been kept in a bottle for a while, by another man. I do not know of his plans for her. It could be sexual, or it could be protective. But the way he acted towards her, his relationship towards her was 'sexual' in nature, because of its intensity. For men like us, Sasuke, a girl like her comes once in a life time. He knew it, too. He kept her in his prison for a long time. It wasn't until when other Akatsuki members mentioned her, I begin to notice the slightest way he change his speech or actions even at the mentioning of her name."

"Are you kidding me." Sasuke scowled, "you fell in love with an image of a girl before you even met her?"

Itachi chuckled. "I didn't fall in love right then, Sasuke. I had a twisted desire to possess her. At first it was to spite him, then later it's to keep something like that of my own."

Sasuke then phrased his next sentence carefully before verballing it aloud, "Itachi. I don't mean to any offence to her, but someone like her is... quite common. If you actually bothered to look around you instead of killing everything you see back then."

He laughed. "Dear brother. The reason I know-is because I have never tried to accommodate her into my life. She molded within me, she melted in me. I have never forced myself to do something she loved but I hate. I have yet to know if it's this feeling, or if it's simply just in my nature, but with her, even pain becomes pleasure."

"You kept her prisoner too."

"Of course. There isn't any other option." Itachi admitted. "She reminded me of why we came to this world. She wanted to survive, to live on no matter what state of prison she's in. She insisted everyone was born on this earth for a reason, and that reason kept her alive."

"What was it?"

"Children." Itachi sighed. "She sensed our dirt and our abomination. She wanted to be with complete purity."

Sasuke observed his brother thoughtfully, then declared, "Our family then, the Uchihas, are born on this earth to hate."

"Perhaps." His brother agreed. "That was my theory too. We have so much hate that we abandoned each other, our companions, our friends and eventually our own sanity. But..."

"But?" Sasuke's turned to him and offered his undivided attention.

"She disagrees. Her ridiculously positive mind insisted I was born in this world to pay her back for all those horrible things I did in my previous life. She said, without a doubt, that I was designed for her. And I'm inclined to say I agree."

Sasuke wanted to grimace at his brother's family's romanticism. "I remembered what you told me about our family... You said we loved too fiercely." He then looked away, "Then there is a difference, though. Even as I loved, it faded. I don't feel that way about Karin anymore."

"Pardon me for generalizing, but Sasuke, have you ever felt that way about anyone?"

"Are you trying to imply I'm a cold hearted bastard?" Sasuke asked.

"Of course not." Itachi laughed, "the difference, Sasuke, is between a sense of habitual comfort, and a slow stream of painful euphoria."

"Are you implying Karin became a habit?"

"Not anymore, though, my dear brother. Didn't you just said you're going to designate her into pieces?"

"Yes, I did." Sasuke smiled almost sadistically. "I need to get rid of this ugly habit of mine."

Meanwhile, somewhere in the Uchiha mansion. Karin closed her eyes and leaned her head against the showers. Her hair was so red it looked like liquid fire. A hand lifted her long hair and spread it along her shoulders. She moaned in pleasure and turned around to look him.

She stared into a pair of eyes with no color.

III.

The next day was the official launch of the seven day Christmas charity. The charity itself takes place in the homeless shelters, which was almost donated and expanded by the Uchiha family. Chiro personally see to it every single bag of rice and ever leaf of cabbage was in place. She also picked out every single turkey and chicken and meat, having them all thawed out and slow roasted over night. Shipments of food, drinks and supplies came one after another. Every branch of the government sent in a representative for the charity. Itachi took care of them by graciously accepting their gratitude. The mayor then arrived and gave the Uchiha family an honorary metal. They posed for the papers, the web, and magazines.

The police commissioner also came. Then it's another round of pictures, photos and articles. As soon as they turned around, however,the commissioner asked Itachi, "Ironic, isn't it, Uchiha-san?"

"I fail to understand your insight."

"While my boys are carrying the gun you sold to us and the citizens, you feed them with such elaborate meals."

Itachi chuckled and placed a hand on his shoulders, "the day you decide to do something about your mistresses, commissioner, would be the day I actually heed that pathetic excuse of an verbal attack."

He joined his wife among the crowds, who was counting the pot roasts warming in the oven.

"We need more vegetarian dishes." Chiro sighed, "We can't feed them salad on winter!"

"Of course, love." He kissed her forehead. "I'll have someone take care of it. I'll set up a vegan stand too."

"Oh, that would be lovely." Chiro smiled. Then she was reminded something wonderful, and her eyes sparkled as she told him, "Itachi, I got contacts from various restaurants around the city-they offered free catering! Also some chefs volunteered! Everyone is so nice around the holidays!"

"Are they, now." Itachi smiled warmly at her, "It's a joyous occasion."

"Yes, so the holiday spirits must be getting to everyone." She leaned her head against his shoulders, "and Hikari's smiling almost everyday now. Did you see? I think Erika's distancing me a little, even. Because of him, she's so happy to have someone like a brother."

"That's good news. Where are they?"

"Shizune took them to the mall, I think... I'm so happy... I'm so happy-everybody else is so happy-it's like an utopia! this day couldn't get any better!"

Itachi stroked her hair and asked softly, "if it makes you so happy, how about we set up a food foundation that never closes? Free meals everyday?"

"Hahaha!" Chiro laughed and pushed him away, "Silly. That's not possible! Ok, I have to check on the soup..."

He sighed, before posing another smile and greet another significant figure and welcome him or her to this charity cause.

IV.

"I need your help." Erika dragged on Shizune's sleeves, "Please, Shizune-obachan, please, please, pleaaaaaaaase?"

Shizune wanted to shake the little brat away, but it's impossible consider how cute she is and how there's another cute little boy sitting behind her and looking at her with such hopeful eyes that she doesn't want to refuse. But-

"Erika." Shizune frowned at her, "you do know what you're asking me is to lie-and not just to anyone. Lie to your mother and father."

"I know, I know." Erika nodded fervently, "I'm sorry, obachan, but I really have no choice. I really... Please, please, please?"

Shizune grumbled, "Fine! But you guys must follow me at all times. Do you understand? If any of you ran out of sight, that's it. It's over. Now let go of my sleeve, I'm driving."

"Yes!" Erika was so excited she hugged the back of Shizune's head, and then she turned to hug Hikari, who hugged her back. After the hug, he let go and discovered he's so excited that he's actually shaking.

Shizune turned the wheels, and got onto the road that's headed for a poor neighbourhood. Most of the residence are gone, though, as they went to the homeless shelters. She carefully parked the car beside the streets per Hikari's instructions, and before she pulled her keys out, Hikari opened the door and bolted out the car like a bullet, with Erika closely followed.

They climbed the stairs manually, while Shizune followed them like a tail while planning on how to lie to the Uchihas, which was practically impossible. So she's planning the least damage this could cause... and so far she came up with none.

Hikari stopped at the fourth floor and start banging on the door with such intensity it almost scared Erika.

"Mommy, Mommy? Open the door! It's Hikari! Mommy?" Hikari banged for almost two minutes, before a girl with brown hair opened in annoyance.

"Who are you?" Hikari glared, "I'm looking for Haruno Sakura."

"I don't know who that is." The girl glared right back, "I just moved in."

She then slammed the door shut. Leaving the three outside dumbfounded.

"Where could she have gone?" Hikari asked rhetorically. He could feel tears coming up again, and it's not a good feeling. Because his proud little heart forbid him to cry. He never cried in school, or in public. Nor will he start to now.

Erika put a hand on his shoulder, then drifted it down to his and carefully intertwined their fingers together. "We'll go find her. Let's go-I have another idea. We'll go find her before Christmas. I made a promise, Hikari, and I would die before I go back on that promise."

Shizune doesn't know to feel sad or silly at this moment. She watched as the kids descended the stairs one by one, and walking back to their car. When she got into the driver's seat. Erika said, "Oba-chan, I have an address for you-can you drive us there?"

"Why not." Shizune said dryly. "From your family doctor to your personal chauffer, I feel a promotion coming up."

"You're the best." Erika yelled happily, "Shizune-obaachan, I hope you find a handsome man and marry him one day. Because you deserve it!"

"..."

V.

Ino was contemplating in bed in an cold and lazy Sunday after noon if she should go to the Uchiha charity case or if she should stay home and cook a meal by herself. Eventually free food won her internal battle as she begin to get dressed.

While she was brushing her day-old hair, deciding whether to wash it or to wear it for the afternoon, she heard banging on the door.

Ino immediately reached for her small handgun in under her pillow-but stopped when she heard a baby-ish voice yelling, "Ino? Ino-chan?"

She carefully let go of the gun and grabbed her baseball bat behind the coat rack, and opened the door sightly. She saw two brats and a gentle looking girl standing behind them.

"Uh..." Ino was about to talk, but Erika didn't give her a chance. She jumped right in.

"Ino-chan. My name is Erika, Uchiha Erika. This is my cousin, Haruno Hikari, and standing behind me is my aunt Shizune. She's my personal chauffer for today. I wanted to ask you if you've seen Haruno Sakura, my aunt. My cousin wants to see her, and I promised him I would find her before Christmas as his present. Please help me?"

Ino stared at the three for almost thirty seconds, before she blurted out, "how did you find me?"

"I asked ojiisan to check your file."

"Which oji?" Shizune is worried.

Erika waved her hand, "Sasori-ojiisan."

"What?" Shizune's eyes widened. "Erika-"

"Ino-chan, please? Please tell us where is Sakura-obbachan. Please... Please, pleaaaaaaaaaaaase?"

Ino stared, and like everyone else, she can't resist Erika if she's determined to get her way. She begin to focus and pulling information from her memory. "I haven't seen her in a while, actually. I think she quit her job-because she didn't come into 'Lair' for a week. I didn't ask though, I got.. uh.. side tracked. Now that I think about it, I should at least ask my manager what happened to Sakura."

"I see." Erika frowned, "Do you mind giving us the address of this place he worked?"

"I can take you there." Ino said, "I'm going out anyways. It's not far."

"Great, get on our car." Erika smiled at her.

So Ino was still in a state of sleepiness and dazed expression when she boarded Shizune's Toyota. When she got on, however, she noticed Erika's wool jacket with a small Uchiha clan symbol sewn on the front pocket.

"Uchiha? Did you just say Uchiha?" Ino stared.

"That's what I said, isn't it?" Erika frowned.

Ino then stared at Hikari, who was still meekly depressed and holding onto Erika's hand. She blinked at Hikari, and realized, "oh my god, you're... You're Sakura's son."

"I said that too..." Erika begin to wonder if this lady has any IQ.

Ino felt foolish, being looked down upon by a kid. But then again, this was the Uchiha kid. But Erika forgot about her as she patted Hikari and busily comforted him on how close they are to finding his other.

The four rushed into 'Lair', and Shizune was especially nervous, because one look could tell that this place is not exactly children friendly. Ino led them directly through the back and into the office area, and they pounded onto the manager's door.

After a few minutes, they're ushered out with disappointing news. Sakura quit her job two month ago, and the manager doesn't know exactly where she went. There was nothing he could do to help them, even with Erika's attempt to bride him with a roll of cash. It was funny and awkward at the same time, but Shizune rushed them out before Erika looses her roll of cash to a stranger. Shizune had to step in, "This is Uchiha Itachi's daughter. Think twice before you do anything."

And immediately the manager refused to talk to them anymore.

"We've hit a dead end." Hikari slumped against the window of the car.

"No, we didn't." Erika said, "I printed all the files out. We have some other people that could help us track her down. Well one thing I'm certain is that she never left the city. Sasori-ojiisan helped me with looking over the flight records. Ino-chan, can you remember if there's any place around the city Sakura-chan might like to go? Like a park or a zoo?"

Ino tried tosort out her memory of Sakura. Finally she decided, "well, there is one place... It's a park actually. She told me there's mini shacks built there, and sometimes homeless people would stay there during the summer. She told me she lived there for a while when she was desperate..."

"I remember." Hikari suddenly said.

Everyone looked at him.

"I was in the hospital. It was a year ago, and the hospital won't let her stay over the night three times in a row, and we don't have a place to live. After I got out, mommy took my hand and we stayed in the shack in the park with the water fall for a night."

Erika's lip quivered, "We'll go find her. We'll find her. We'll find her."

Meanwhile, Sakura smuggled her knife and gun into Uchiha's Charity.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A/N: I would say technically I'm not evil by ending it here. I would be evil, however, if I ended it at the moment of the gunpoint. Which is why I spare my dears all the agony and left it in the next chapter, which will be delayed a little until the end of next week. Thank you.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

I.

"She was a prism through which sadness could be divided into its infinite spectrum."

-Foer

II.

Sakura wore a heavy jacket and with a deep hood as she went through crowds and crowds of people waiting for a free hot meal. She checked the map that was handed out by the entrance, and she has been through almost all areas of the shelter-there was no sign of Sasuke. Her mind begin to cloud up and panic sunk in. Even though no one would recognize her through her disguise, her hands were shaking. She breathed in and out while trying to calm herself down-she saw Chiro.

The only woman who managed to get a happy marriage out of an Uchiha. Her stomach did a turn as she saw Chiro holding a plate full of chocolate covered strawberries. They're not arranged in a aesthetic pleasing manner, as there's so much of them stacked upon one another. She is followed by a bodyguard who kept everyone from crowding her and a maid who was tending to her tray, yet she seemed want to dive into the crowds as she asked everyone if they wanted some strawberries before getting a meal. Everybody reached as polite as possible, and soon the tray lightened its load considerably. Chiro walked up Sakura and smiled, "Strawberries?"

Sakura blinked before carefully remind herself not to say anything. She took a strawberry politely and smiled at her.

Chiro was about to move on, but she turned to stare at her, as if trying to remember something. Sakura panicked even more as she quickly turned around and run into the crowds.

"Rika, does that girl look familiar?"

"A little, ma'am, but I can't remember."

"Yes, she does..." Chiro frowned.

Sakura ran as fast as she could, getting away as far from Chiro as possible. She ran to the green house gardens, where rows of flowers and plants are lined up together. Many people are sitting on the benches neatly stacked along the plants. She froze in her tracks because she saw Sasuke at the very end.

She approached him almost tentatively, but hiding along a crowd also moving towards that direction. She peered at him through her eyelashes, fearing he might look her way and see right through her.

Sasuke was having a heated conversation with the chef. Who shook his head and repeated, "it's impossible to replace mushrooms with anything on such a short notice, the point of a veggie burger is that it's held up by eggs and mushrooms, and now you're telling me there isn't any?"

Sasuke sighed in annoyance, "what about corn? Use corn."

"I did add corn in! But without mushrooms I'd have to add more four, and it's not patty anymore, it'd just, corn bread between two slices of bread."

Sakura reached into her jacket and felt the hard metal pressed against her shirt. She shook her head slightly, and decided to switch to a knife. A gun is too obvious, and it would cause a mass panic with the sound. Even though with a knife, this charity is as good as ruined anyways. She whispered an apology to Chiro, and grasped the handle of the knife tightly within her hands.

She was almost a meter away from Sasuke, standing directly behind him, she was reminded of the time when she was so infatuated with him. When his voice, his eyes, just one look from him...

This is the man who took away her baby. This is the man who didn't care about his son as much as to purposely hurt her. This is the man who put her through hell and left her with nothing-

"Sasuke." Her voice was clear.

He froze for a second before turning around rapidly, and by then Sakura already charged at him straight to the heart with the dagger. Years of reflex quickly forced Sasuke to shift his body one way while bending down-but Sakura had the advantage of moving first. The dagger missed the heart and went to the side of his abdomen. It stuck in a couple of inches. It's a miracle that Sasuke didn't collide with the ground backwards. One of his hand went to his abdomen and his eyes are glued to the girl in front of him. The girl with dark hair but green eyes. The girl he recognize so well, and the girl he hated so much it leaked into the marrow of his bones.

Sakura felt her blade pierce through his flesh, and his disbelief in his eyes. She has the guts to stab him once, but she definitely does not have the guts to do it repeatedly. But this stab did not wound him fatally, as there's a great chance he might survive this. All the consequences rushed into her mind-she may never see Hikari again. She may be locked up in jail. The Uchihas would destroy her, and Sasuke would personally torture her physically and emotionally, she would beg she was never born.

She panicked even more and it amplified under his heated gaze and stunned expression.

That's when she decided there's no point anymore. She knew too well without the power, the money, or the influence, she has lost the only thing in life which created happiness and gave her a sense of sanity. Now she lost that chance by stabbing a Uchiha-and the father of her happiness in essence. She pulled out the gun from inside of her pockets under the astonished expression of that particular Uchiha and pointed to her head.

There was screaming and yelling everywhere, crowds pushing each other going through the exit. It was chaos-but at that moment, Sakura felt the world was clear, it was clearer than anything she has ever seen.

She pulled on the trigger.

Before the loud bang that give everyone a heart attack occurred, however, during that fraction of a second, Sasuke knocked the gun out of her hand. The next second he realize what exactly was going on, as he was on the ground, and Sakura was beneath him. She was unconscious.

Years later, he could describe that as the most heartbreaking moment of his life. He would pray to Kami never to let it happen again.

It is true what they say though, one would react to their pure instinct at the moment of such urgency that all logic and reason has left their minds.

Sasuke's hands quivered as he tried his very best to move up to Sakura's head. He cupped her head and felt a sticky flood slowly soaking his through his fingers. He untangled his hand from her dark hair as he raised it up and stared at it.

Blood, blood, blood everywhere.

He let out a scream from deep within him. He was screaming when he felt a pair of hand gently tugging on his shoulders. He refused to let her go, and all the voices around him are buzzing around his head. He grabbed a hold of Sakura's shoulders and he swore he could feel the warmness slowly leaking from her body. He swore he could see traces of life, draining from her already pale and skinny face. Her dark and messy hair, her fragile and dry skin along her once plump and soft cheeks.

He was screaming when the emergency services came into the greenhouse with a stretcher someone trying to separate them by force. The moment he let go, he could feel his mind slowly breaking down. There was no sense of structure or reason as he even forgot to breathe. His mind opened closed itself up and he was reduced to dust.

III.

"I wonder if Chiro would be mad at this mess." Karin sighed while tucking white sheets around her body. The room was a mess, consider she was fucked almost on every surface.

"Probably." Neji replied. he leaned against the headboard naked. A sheet covered his abdomen and what's below.

Karin laughed, "She never liked me anyways."

"What a surprise." Neji said drily. "You? Hated?"

"I always wonder why I turned out like this." Karin buried her head in her pillow. "Naruto always said I'm the split version of our mother. I had her hair, her eyes, her nose and her lips. I've seen photos of her, but I can't help but feel we're so different it's almost laughable."

Neji chuckled before answering, "The generation of heros often give birth to bastard children. We are those children. There's nothing we could do."

"I forgot. You believe in fate, don't you? And it's unchangeable."

"If it could be changed, we'd change it a long time ago." Neji sighed, "this isn't a story, Karin. Our life does not belong to a specific genre. It's neither tragedy, where we die for someone else's epiphany, or comedy, where we dance and have a happy marriage. This is just endless suffering, and it goes on forever."

Karin glanced at him in surprise. "Pessimistic much?"

"Don't even. Your head is more twisted than mine."

She laughed, and shifted her body so her head could lean on his abdomen. She stroked his arm softly. "I was good once."

"Then I would say we met at the wrong place and wrong time."

"That's what our life were-a series of wrong turns. We never encounter those who we were supposed to encounter, and yet we collide with each other because of our sick desires..." Karin's voice faded into a whisper.

She was good once, perhaps. She was once innocent, and cute. But she was torn open by society. Lies and deception crashed down on her, and she had to learn how to use her self in her own advantage to survive. She was the reason Sasuke and Naruto became friends-she approached him first. She had him first, she loved him first.

It fades, of course.

Sasuke is a very controlling man. He likes to have everything in order, under him. He only allows Itachi above him, because he owes everything to Itachi. Other than that, everything in his life he controls. His company, his trades, his men, and including his relationships. He became possessive to the point to the point where he only kept relations with those he could control. Karin understands-she understands more than anyone why he is the way he is. It's not an underestimation to say that other than Itachi, Karin is the one who knows Sasuke inside and out.

Neji distracted her from her thoughts by asking, "what are you planning to do from now on?"

She struggled to get up from the bed, but Neji pushed her down and climbed on top of her with one swift movement.

"Tell me." He commanded while trailing kisses down her collar.

"I need to find that girl." Karin whimpered. "That girl... Sakura."

"What?" Neji stopped and lifted his head up. His eyes narrowed dangerously at her, "what are you planning?"

"Did you think I'm going to make her more miserable?" Karin laughed, "the shit she brought down on herself is already beyond pathetic."

He pushed her away in annoyance. "Karin."

"I know, I know." She laughed, "don't get mad at me, please. Besides, you've yet to do your part. You still didn't tell Sasuke about us."

"He knows." Neji said pointedly. "He knows we know. We know that he knows that we know."

"..."

"There isn't point to poke the truth through." Neji sighed. "If we go, then we might be forcing his hand at getting his revenge at us. If we keep it hidden, he might make our fallout a little more... lenient."

"You sounded like everybody else I know." Karin accused, "why are you so afraid of him?"

Neji laughed, "I suppose there isn't any point in denying I'm not."

Karin got up and wrapped her arms around his lean waist, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. I know what you meant-I understand. I really do. Fear rose from love, Neji. Don't worry about it-if he actually does decide on take revenge, I have something on him in the back of my hand too."

He stroked her hair before leaving the bed to get dressed, "Come on, time to-"

His phone rang, and he picked it up, frowning. "Huh."

"What?" Karin begin to make her way into the washroom.

"Sasuke is in the hospital. Unconscious." Neji read his text.

"What?" Karin's eyes widened as she dropped her sheets and rushed to him, "What happened?"

Neji tossed her a glance before scrolling down, "Huh. He was stabbed. By his ex-wife."

Karin stared.

"There's a sentence I'd never thought I'd use on an Uchiha." He mused while twirling his phone in his hand.

Karin dressed as quickly as possible and said, "I need to make my move-I need to-"

She was almost out the door when she turned back and kissed him on his cheeks. "Wait for me, please-"

He stared after her as she ran out.

IV.

Sakura woke up around a few hours later in the hospital with a slight concussion. Her head swelled a little. After opening her eyes, the first face she saw was her son.

She burst into tears after a few seconds of string at his sleeping face. He was lying beside her bed with hand grasping onto her hands. He was fast asleep, and Sakura got up after a few attempts to lift his little body onto the bed with her. She tucked him in and couldn't stop staring at his face. It was stained with tears. Sakura let out a long breath of relief. Even though she has no idea what happened. Why she's in the hospital, and why was Hikari allowed to see her, she's so happy that she finally saw her son. She wanted to wake him up to talk to him, but decided against it.

A small voice came on the other side of the bed.

"Sakura-Obachan?"

Sakura turned her head and saw Erika, who was standing by the corner.

"Erika." She smiled warmly at the girl, "dearest. Thank you for taking care of Hikari."

Erika smiled timidly at her.

"Haruno Sakura, you're in some deep shit." Karin walked into the room in a whisper.

Sakura haven't seen Karin in a long time—in fact, she almost forgot there is such a girl that existed. Upon looking at her fiery red hair she was reminded that Karin is engaged to Uchiha Sasuke, and she's Naruto's half-sister.

"Karin." Sakura sighed tiredly. She believed that there is nothing Karin could say that would surprise her anymore.

However, she underestimated Karin's ability to shock others. What came out of Karin's mouth next was, "Haruno Sakura. Currently Uchiha Sasuke is unconscious. I looked over his chart and deduced he will remain unconscious for at least the rest of the day. I took a look at your chart too." She tapped on the foot of the bed, "It turned out that you have a slight concussion. Nothing serious. You can leave immediately. I suggest you take Hikari with you."

"Wh…what?" Sakura stared at her.

Karin pulled out a few documents from her leather handbag. "You may not know this, but when Sasuke took your son away from you, the court refused his custody request unless he has a female companion. A wife, you might say. Therefore he dragged me in, and I'm one of your son's official guardians."

The mere thought of it made Sakura sick. She looked away and wrapped her hand protectively around Hikari.

Karin laughed, "perhaps you didn't understand me. I'm offering you a chance to escape."

"Escape?"

"Yes. Escape the city. Escape the country, in fact."

"I have nowhere to go." Sakura whispered. She suddenly felt very self-conscious in front of Karin. She's wearing what should've been hers. Her ring, her outfit, her leather boots—they were a privilege that belonged to Sakura. In front of Karin, Sakura felt inferior. This feeling mirrored to what she felt years ago, and hit her like a washboard on her head.

"Don't worry about it." Karin handed her a folder gently. "I've already prepared everything.

Sakura untangled her arms from Hikari and opened the folder. She really did thought of everything. Fake IDs, plane tickets, and a stack of money in an envelope. And the most important of all—papers. Papers signing over Hikari back to Sakura.

"This has the Uchiha seal and signature on it." Sakura stared in astonishment. "How?"

"Well. In case of emergency when Sasuke isn't able to sign official documents, he left it for his brother to take his place on matters such as this. Itachi flew back to York to take care of some business—and in the event he can't sign anything, his wife—"

"Ah, long story short." Erika butted in, "I stole the seal and signed it."

Sakura stared at her, and looked down at the signature. This kid must be a genius. Or that she has perfected her parent's signature to the point of making the exact replica of it. And she even stole the family seal. This is not time to be impressed, however, as Sakura sat up, "I must check out—"

"I already did." Karin handed her a slip. "You can leave anytime. The flight's in three hours."

"I need to go to the store…" Sakura begin to plan her escape, but Erika pointed at a suitcase beneath her hospital bed. "I asked Rika to do it." She said.

Sakura once again was amazed. "You two planned this?"

Erika rolled her eyes, "It just happened. I was sneaking out when she-" she pointed at Karin "- saw me. She asked me to forge the signature."

Sakura glared at Karin, who was already walking out the door. "I really hope I don't see you in this city again."

"Wait, Than—"

She didn't finish. And Karin was right. That was the last time they saw each other.

V.

Chiro knew something was wrong when she came back home from the hospital. She was talking with Itachi on her phone for a while now. He called when she just finished check up on Sasuke. She has been on the phone with him since. He just finished a meeting and had a bit of free time. He ate his lunch while she talked about what has been happening to the Charity.

"Sasuke's fine. There must be like a team full of doctors waiting on his highness... There's a significant decline in the guests. I think this might be the only time we've ever been through where we have more food than people."

"We can freeze the left overs for the food foundation."

"Good idea. But there fruits and vegetables…should I ask the chefs to make them into jam or fruit cans? Season them? The day old turkey meat—do you think it's be unethical to give them to the zoo?"

"No." Itachi chuckled, "but I don't think the carnivores appreciated cooked and seasoned meat."

"What shall we do with them? Make them into jerkies?"

"Freeze them too." Itachi said. "There are other various dishes we can make with chopped up meat and vegetables. If we stew them into soup, they can be frozen and thawed at any time, ready to eat. How are the kids?"

"Funny you should mention that." Chiro replied, "I don't think I've talked to Erika about this whole situation. I don't even know if she knows about it. I mean, she went shopping with Shizune yesterday, and this morning I saw her sneaking around the house with Rika."

"Mhmm." Itachi went silent for a moment, until he said, "where are you right now? Are you almost home?"

"Hanaka is pulling up the drive way. What's up?"

"Have you seen Hikari lately?"

"Not since yesterday morning."

"Mhmm…"

Chiro gave him a few seconds to sort this all out. She found that ever since she married him, he has been taking charge of every aspect of her life. Even thinking. Being with him, he takes care of literally everything. Chiro decided long ago she might as well live like a happy idiot. Many people crave life like this—life without stress of twisting your mind around something to figure it out. She was clever once. Too clever, in fact, that she buried herself within her new found conspiracy and she almost suffocated.

"Well?" She asked before walking in front of the door. She saw immediately Erika kneeling down on the ground with her head down and facing towards her. She gasped and quickly said, "Erika! What are you doing on the ground!"

"Daddy isn't home?" She asked, standing up, looking embarrassed and annoyed.

"He's on the phone with me, sweetheart." Chiro pointed.

Erika immediately trembled a little and knelt right back down. All expression of annoyance left her face.

Chiro tried to get her up, but she won't budge. She sighed and talked into her phone. "Itachi."

"Dearest."

"I have a… um… situation."

"I heard."

"She refuses to get up."

"Let me talk to her."

So Chiro plopped herself right next to Erika and handed her the phone, who grabbed onto it with a shaking hand. "Daddy."

From Chiro's point of view, Erika looked as if she was about to cry as she talked into the phone, "I did something bad… no, no, I didn't. I swear I didn't. I did steal the seal. I signed something… How did you know? No one else. I swear… Ok it was Karin-onee. She asked me to, and frankly I agree. No way, they're gone already. What? No! I don't want to! Daddy! Daddy!"

"What did he say?" Chiro asked while taking the phone in her hand.

"I hate him! I hate you all!" Erika screamed while her face scrunched up together as if she was about to cry. She ran upstairs while screaming at nothing in particular.

"What did you tell her!" Chiro yelled into the phone.

Itachi sighed before answering, "She did something that she should've have done without our permission. My permission."

"What is it?" Chiro asked him persistently.

"She stole our seal, and helped Hikari get back to her mother."

Chiro was silent for a moment and felt a part of her heart has been carved out. "Hikari?"

"Don't hang up. Stay with me." Itachi implored, "Chiro."

"I…" Chiro tried to open her mouth to speak. But she seemed to have lost her voice.

"Chiro, stop it." Itachi said with certain sternness in his voice, "You know this was going to happen. You knew. He doesn't' belong to us."

She knows, she knows. She knows more than anyone, but she can't believe her time has been cut this short. It's unreasonable for her to be so deluded into thinking that Hikari was actually her unborn son. But it caused her so much grief over the last few years and slashed a wound she couldn't possibly heal. Especially when she saw how her daughter and Hikari interacted, she had the illusion that he completed family-this is how it should have been. A boy and a girl. They take care of each other, they support each other, they will always be there-unlike Itachi and Sasuke.

But this was taken away from her so suddenly she felt nauseated. She suddenly wished Sakura could come and live with them. She wishes Hikari could be happy. She wished everybody is here, without any past feud or anger towards one another. This was impossible, because it just so happened Hikari's parents hated each other. She felt it was incredibly unfair, how Sasuke reigned over an entire city while Sakura lived in Leon for six years without the basic necessities. The only reason this happened because Itachi didn't interfere. He didn't do anything-just like last time, when he didn't do anything to help her. He left her alone in that big house. His past caught up to him, and for a man who have thought of everything, why did he leave this huge loophole?

For the next few seconds, Chiro went over the past and explored the question she has been avoiding all these years. Itachi sent Sasuke to kill Konan. Itachi sent him, and knowing there's a very likely possibility Konan will escape to Pein's mansion. He sent him regardless. Even if he did not know the circumstance of her pregnancy, what did he expect? Did he hold such faith in Sasuke that he was certain the younger cold blooded Uchiha wouldn't kill her on sight?

And once again, Sasuke tipped the balance.

Her heart begin to grow cold.

Itachi dreaded the next five seconds, and he dreaded what came out of her mouth later—

"You once killed a man whom you worked with because I didn't belong to you. Since when did you become so moral? Or is it because this was different because it involves your brother?"

And she hung up.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A/N: I don't quite know how to feel about all this. This is getting more and more complicated, and we're 18 chapters in, Sakura and Sasuke barely had any interaction. I know, I know, I know. Just to make things easier, I decided to end this story within another 10 or so chapters. Because I have a lot of other stories to work on. Any ideas or suggestions feel free to pm me.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

I.

Love is an act of faith, and whoever of little faith is also of little love.

-Fromm

II.

Sakura stood nervously in the international airport while holding onto Hikari's hand. A few month of not seeing him he has grown bigger and chubbier. This is good, because he was very thin before. His cheeks are rosy and frost-bite free. His smile seemed sweeter and he grabbed onto her almost every second they were together.

"Are we really going?" Hikari asked her, his eyes wide.

"Yes." Sakura answered and her voice was quivering because of how excited she was. Her eyes lodged onto the gate, hoping for it to open as soon as possible so she can bolt across and board that plane.

"Mommy, will we ever see Erika again?"

"I don't know, honey." Sakura sighed. "Most likely not. Maybe yes, I don't know. I'm sure she will find a way to talk to you on phone."

Hikari could sense his mother's nervousness, so he shut up.

Sakura looked apologetic. She quickly patted his cheek and smiled, "I'm sorry baby, mommy just can't believe all this. Are you hungry? Let's go buy a burger, alright?"

Hikari shook his head, "I'm not that hungry."

Sakura hugged onto his black little head and kissed his forehead repeatedly. "Oh, mommy missed you so much. Hikari, Hikari baby, did you have fun at your aunt and uncle's?"

"Yes." Hikari said, for fearing of disappointing her. "I... I just thought you should come too. You know, visit."

Sakura smiled but didn't answer. She checked her watch again. Ten minutes. It would be another ten minutes until the gate opens and they're allowed to board. She checked her purse-all her documents are in place. Everything Hikari needs are already on the luggage. In her purse there's some organic food, some fresh fruits and some rice balls. They're going to be set for a while. She's so happy that this all might seem a beautiful dream that she might wake up from any second.

"Mommy, did you know you can talk to other people on video? Aunt Chiro gave me a phone that I could use to talk to her, and I can see her too!" Hikari said, "I returned it to her, though. I left it on her dresser before I left. I returned Erika's toys too. Do you think they might miss me

"Of course they will." Sakura whispered. "You're wonderful, and you're a cute little baby boy. Everyone loves you!"

Hikari smiled. "I sure hope they call me soon. I didn't get Erika a present, even though she got me one."

"Oh? What did she get you?"

Hikari laughed and put his arms around her, "you, mommy! She got me you! She promised I would see you before Christmas! And she was right!"

"Oh." Sakura felt her eyes water up. "She really is quite clever."

"Mhmm," Hikari nuzzled against her mother's dark hair

"Ok baby, it's time to board." She saw some people already lining up at the gate. Quickly she grabbed onto her purse and her backpack.

"Yay!"

The two nudged among the crowd, and their plane tickets ready in their hands. Sakura was already so excited her heart already leapt through the gates and onto the plane. She wanted nothing more than to fly out of here and start living her life with her son and with no one else to disturb her. She smiled widely at the check in line that the girl returned the smile with equal enthusiasm. She looked at the ticket and asked, "first time to Floria?"

"Yes." Sakura wanted to laugh aloud.

"Well, everything look good here." The girl scanned the tickets, but an alarm stopped her from processing it further. "Hang on."

Sakura's heart sank.

"It says here that you're missing something... Wait." She picked up her phone and called someone.

Sakura grabbed onto Hikari's hand and begin to back away. Unfortunately, she backed into the security guards, who asked her politely, "Ma'am, I'm going to have to ask you to step aside for a few minutes. Just for a few minutes until we sort this all out."

Sakura thought about turning around and run. Unfortunately with this crowd of people, it's never going to happen. And besides, her running with a six year old kid is next to impossible. She wailed inside while the guards gently grabbed onto her arm and escorted out the crowds.

"Where are you taking me?"

"Just to an inspection room, ma'am."

"Mommy..." Hikari gripped onto Sakura's hand.

"Don't worry." She told him, "We're going to get through this.

But when they entered the big and glass room, she saw Sasuke sitting at the leather bound chair behind an oak wood table, and behind him, the plane that she was supposed to be on took off.

It was on Christmas day.

III.

There is a sick infatuation between Neji and Karin. It's so twisted that Neji was almost ashamed of it. The reality of it, though, is the he didn't care what anyone else thinks about them, but he hid the affair so perfectly no one else knew.

It was a couple of days after Christmas, when he knew that he must go back to his York with Hinata tomorrow, he went out and got drunk.

The club itself was the one Ino worked at. He booked a luxury suit all on his own and ordered endless amount of liquor. Ino pushed carts after carts in, watching as he mixed the oddest liquor together and drank it all down.

Soon he was drunk.

Ino's supervisor told her that she cannot allow a drunk customer to take up the room for the rest of the night. Ino had to find a way to get rid of him, therefore she ventured into the room and poked around.

Neji barely recognize her, but her long blond hair triggered something in him. He smiled because he has followed Ino everywhere for the past month, and he knew everyone of her little quirks or her personality. He smiled because she was a struggling girl working her ass off in this world while he had everything handed to him on a plate, yet he wanted nothing more than to destroy his family who did.

He pulled on her hair and whirled her into his embrace. Ino had no idea what was going on before he kissed her.

It was not a long kiss, neither was it a heartbreaking kiss, because Karin barged in and pushed Ino off of him.

"Leave us alone." Karin commanded before throwing her a bunch of bills.

Ino didn't quite know what to feel. Working in an environment like this, this isn't the first time that this has happened. She dust herself off and exited the room, closing the door behind her.

Karin laughed at Neji, "Are you doing this to punish me?"

Neji's vision is blurred as he reach up to touch her face.

Karin held his hand within hers, and she leaned into his chest.

"When did you become like this?" Neji muttered, closing his eyes.

"I don't know." Karin muttered. "I turned around one day, and saw blood on my hands. I couldn't go back."

He begin to tear her cloth off of her while she did the same to him. He felt his stomach bled as he entered her. "Marry me." He said, eyes never taking them off of her.

She tilted her head back and laughed while tears emit from her eyes, "alright."

He thrusts in farther.

Ino was downstairs cleaning up a table and a ground of men in black suits approached her.

"Have you seen this man?" One of them held up his phone to her.

She blinked and saw the photo of Neji. Nodding numbly, she saw a middle aged man who resembled Neji so much walked up to her and said, "Please take us to him."

This can't be good. But Ino wasn't about to piss off a bunch of people in suits either. She thought about the girl upstairs and got a cruel satisfaction that they're going to interrupt whatever it is that she's doing to him.

She led the men upstairs and into the luxury suite, upon opening the doors, she saw them fucking each other like animals.

The men barged in, and Ino retreated outside quietly.

Karin and Neji was surprised, especially Neji, who sobered up from his excessive drinking and frowned, "Ojii-sama."

"It's me, yes." Hyuuga Hiashi walked into the room and said in a solemn voice, "Get dressed, get her off of him."

"No-" Neji attempted to stop the men from touching Karin, but she was forcefully dragged away from him and tossed aside like trash.

"Neji." The elder Hyuuga said in a solemn and cold voice, "do you understand, that you are the pillar of our family? Do you want us to fall? Thousands of people working for us-do you want them to starve? You must understand thee consequences, you must understand where your responsibility lie, and you must know what to discard, and what to keep."

Ino stared at Neji, whose eyes dimmed with each word. She stared at him for a full minute before turning around and ran.

IV.

In truth, Erika didn't really fully comprehend what she was doing. All she understand was that in her father's study, there was a seal with her family crest. Put it on anything, and it has the power to change everything in the world. She stole it to gave her cousin freedom, and she felt she did nothing wrong.

When faced with her father again, she lowered her head and bit her lips to prevent her from crying. But the constant fear of being scolded is eminent. She has long known that her father emits an aura that her mother did not have, and her father could retract and emit that aura to manipulate everybody around him to do whatever he liked. She admired him for it, but when he emits it towards her direction, she felt terrified.

Her father didn't speak for a long time, and Erika knelt down as obediently as she could. When she felt her knees going numb, Itachi finally spoke.

"Send her to Kakashi's for a while." He said.

Her heart sank as she stared up at her father incredulously. A man behind her father is already making phone calls, and she felt like screaming. Her first thought was, if she go to Kakashi-ojiisan's, it would meant endless military training. He would not go soft because she was a young girl. He would still force her to wake up at five in the morning and begin the day by running laps. It's not a place for ladies, definitely. She knew because she has been there before.

Her second thought was, "Mother wouldn't agree."

Itachi never thought there would be a day when he face off against his daughter. He narrowed his eyes and said, "By the time she finds out, you'd be gone."

Erika felt herself falling deep into an abyss of never ending shame. She whispered, "when can I come back?"

Itachi softened his gaze, "when I feel it's enough."

She yelled, "I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!"

He sighed and wait for her to finish before teaching her, "Erika, you are my daughter. It is expected that you can achieve beyond your level. But it is also expected of you to learn the virtues of being humble, patient, and honest. When everyone here adores you and tells you how clever you are, you believe them and begin to let your guard down. Your little cleverness would be the mistake in which would make you fall one day. I am trying to correct it before it kills you. Your bags are already packed, say goodbye."

Needless to say one of Itachi's weaknesses was conversing with a child.

So Erika was shipped off to Celeste during New Year's Eve.

V.

Once again, Sasuke is faced with this girl in his life.

Except for the first time he saw her, every other time he faced her with calculations in his heart.

This time he was still calculating-but he was calculating on how to own her completely.

With the Uchihas, even kindness is a strategy.

Sakura was too tired at even glare at him, and therefore she held onto Hikari's hand while resting her head against the limo door.

"Which city do you want to live in?" Sasuke carefully observed her reaction, "Leon or York?"

Sakura made no indication of hearing him, so Sasuke asked his son.

Hikari was silent for a few moment before Sasuke cleared his throat in annoyance. Immediately Hikari replied, "Where Erika lives."

"She's off to Kakashi's." Sasuke said, checking his phone, which consist of a few messages Erika sent to him just since this morning. It all went along the lines of, "Ojiisan, save me!" "Ojiisan I don't want to stay here, my body hurt from all the running." "Ojiisan I'm dying..."

"Then I want to go there too!" Hikari said.

Sasuke glared at him, "Shut up and get off the limo."

They're already at his school. Hikari pursed his lips and attempted to cry, but Sakura quickly cooed and patted him and comforted him with all the comforting words she could think of. Hikari finally managed to stop himself from crying, but his father cleared his throat again, and he bursted into tears.

"I don't want him to go to school today." Sakura hugged him close in her embrace.

"He's six, he's not a toddler anymore." Sasuke growled at them.

Now both mother and the child hugged each other and stared at him as if he's the common enemy.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and said, "Would it make anybody feel better if we visited Oniisan-"

"Yes!" Both of them said simultaneously.

And so they shifted their direction towards the Uchiha Manor.

VI.

Uchiha Itachi is skyping with his daughter at the time of Sasuke's arrival. Erika mainly wailed and screamed while Itachi muted the volume. It was until Erika calmed down he raised the volume a little and raised an eyebrow.

Erika passed the screaming time. She asked her father in all sincerity, "Father, why am I here?"

"To be stronger." Itachi said, his voice kind.

"But what would I do with strength?" Erika asked, "You will always be there to protect me."

"Not always." Itachi said softly, "You need to grow up. Kakashi-sensei can strengthen you emotionally and teach you precious things that you need to survive in this world."

"What? Kindness, honour, morality? Daddy, you have none of those." She said innocently.

Itachi chuckled at his daughter's audacity. "Be as it may," he replied, "You need to understand the consequences of your actions. Everything I do, I pay a price for it. You have yet to learn how to weight the risk at hand."

"Daddy, I want to go back. I hate it here." Erika sobbed, "They're going to take away my iPad."

"Stop it. Enough, you shouldn't be hiding it in the first place." Itachi waved. "You're too old to play these tricks in front of Kakashi."

She stopped sobbing immediately, instead she smiled a little and asked, "Daddy, when I become strong, aren't you afraid I will kill you?"

The doorbell rang.

"I look forward to it." Itachi smiled back before logging off.

"Sir." The Uchiha butler knocked on his study door. Itachi walked out and down the stairs. In his living room is a terrified Sakura, a shivering Hikari, and a pissed off Sasuke. He looked around in amusement, then said, "Well, it looks like you three have been through a famine."

"Brother." Sasuke tossed him a glare. "They want to live here."

"I'm assuming you're part of the package?" Itachi said with laughter in his eyes. Which his younger brother did not appreciate and scowled at.

"Yes." Sasuke said, "You have too much space for just two people."

"I also have thirty staff..." Itachi faked a hesitating expression, but that was soon broken by a small yell from the stairs. His wife, in a clearly high quality silk night gown, stared down at Hikari in a wild kind of happiness. She breathed out, "Hikari-kun... And Sakura-chan, did I hear wrong, you want to live here?"

Sakura turned away from her a little because of embarrassment, and her son struggled out of her embrace and ran up the stairs. "Oba-chan! Oba-chan!"

It was the first time that Sasuke suspected that there must be a connection deeper than surface in this family. It's a kind of adoration carved in bones, and it goes in deeper with time. When Hikari jumped to his aunt's embrace, all of them could see her falling apart in relief and happiness.

Sakura walked up to the two of them and touched Chiro's shoulders, "I... I heard you... You lost a ..."

Chiro nodded, while she grabbed on Sakura's hand. "You must think I'm crazy, but the day I lost him, is the day Hikari was born..."

"It's not crazy." Sakura leaned down to hug the two of them. "It's fate. I prayed for him, I wished for his health, and he became a hope in my life. He's a ray of light that lit up my entire existence."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

A.N: Well guys, it took 19 Chapters, but finally some Sasuke and Sakura action in the near future. I am very very sorry I haven't update this story in a while. Because let's face it, it was going no where. I find myself lacking so much structure in this story over all that I am ashamed to post it. But since some people like it, so there you go.  
I don't quite know which story to focus on, so I'll up date some chapters one week at a time in different stories.

Thank you for all your patience!


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